Trustee Board

Professor Ursula Felderhoff-Müser is holding the chair of pediatrics at the Medical Faculty of the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) and is Director of the Department of Pediatrics I (Neonatology, Pediatric Intensive Care, Pediatric Neurology) at the Children’s University Hospital.

She studied medicine in Homburg, Vienna, and finally Heidelberg, where she received her Ph.D. in 1993. Until 2000, various scientific activities led her to the University pediatric hospitals of Heidelberg, Berlin, and London. Being a specialist in pediatrics with a focus on neonatal medicine, she spent eight years as a senior physician at the Neonatology Department of the Charité Berlin. Professor Felderhoff-Müser was appointed professor in 2003 with a thesis on the significance of specific cell biological processes that lead to brain damage in children. In the spring of 2008, she was appointed extraordinary professor at the Charité Berlin and offered the chair of pediatrics in Essen.
Professor Felderhoff-Müser addresses the specific problems and treatment of preterm and seriously ill newborn infants. She focuses on clinical diagnosis and therapy of neuropediatric and neonatal diseases as well as on emergency and intensive care in children. Scientific priorities within the Department of Pediatrics I at the Children’s University Hospital I are the protection and therapy of the developing nervous system of preterm and term-born sick infants and biomarker research for early prediction of outcome as well as the clinical characterization of neuromuscular diseases. Besides, she is working on projects like critical care diagnostics and the treatment of seriously ill children and adolescents.

Thomas Föringer studied law in Augsburg, Hamburg and Munich, Germany, before focusing on licensing and merchandising. Since then he has also been a board member of several companies while at the same time acting as a partner, consultant and self-employed lawyer. He has lectured at the FH Würzburg-Schweinfurt and has published articles on his key competencies licensing and merchandising. 

Since 2008, his main focus is renewable energy. He and his partners developed and constructed some of the largest photovoltaic plants in Europe, i.e. in Spain, Italy, and Germany. Believing in the necessity of a change in acting as well preventing environment for the next generations, beginning in 2012, he and his partners started to diversify by developing and financing other renewable energy projects, ideas, and technologies too. He has been involved in several non-profit fundraising, developed a pre-paid-charity card which will be launched in Germany at the end of 2016, and acts as a business angel, too. 

Thomas Föringer has been involved with EFCNI as a co-founder right from the beginning.

Silke Mader is the Chairwoman of the Executive Board and co-founder of EFCNI. In 1997, her twins were born in the 25th week of pregnancy, and were not given the appropriate care. Unfortunately, one of them died a few days after birth. During her time in hospital and afterwards, Silke Mader was faced with the non-existence of support of any kind, the absence of public awareness and the lack of information and education for parents during pregnancy. Her motivation is to prevent parents from making similar experiences in such painful situations. As the conditions throughout Europe are distressingly similar and preterm children urgently need a voice within Europe and worldwide, she decided to take on the role of chair on the Executive Board of EFCNI.

Silke Mader is co-editor of the EFCNI Benchmarking Report “Too little, Too Late? Why Europe Should do more for Preterm Infants”, “Caring for Tomorrow” – the EFCNI White Paper on Maternal and Newborn Health and Aftercare Services and technical editor of the “Born too Soon” Global Action Report on Preterm Birth. Besides this, Silke Mader is author and editor of many other publications on topics related to maternal and newborn health.

In 2012 Silke Mader was awarded the “Prix Courage” by ZDF television programme “ML mona lisa” in cooperation with the cosmetics company Clarins. 2013 she received the Medal for Particular Services to Bavaria in a United Europe. Since 2014 she is Honorary Lecturer at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland. In 2015, Silke Mader has been awarded as social entrepreneur and Ashoka Fellow and in 2016 she received the Bavarian State Medal for Services concerning Health and Long-term Care.

As Head of Department of  the Schön Klinik München Harlaching, Germany, Dr Michael Poschmann is an expert in paediatric and neuro orthopeadics.  

After his studies of Human Medicine at the Albert-Ludwig University of Freiburg im Breisgau, Dr Poschmann started his professional career in hospitals in Freiburg and Karlsruhe. In 2004, he moved to Munich and started working at the Schön Klinik München Harlaching. He underwent specialty training in orthopaedics, specialising in paediatric orthopaedics and neuro orthopaedics as well as trauma surgery. In 2011, Dr Poschmann was appointed senior physician for the department of paediatric and neuro orthopaedics. Since 2012, he is head of the same department.  

Dr Michael Poschmann has a particular interest in paediatric orthopaedics and is an active member of several organisations e.g. Association of Paediatric Orthopaedics and German Association of Orthopaedics and Orthopaedic Surgery. He is the author of many publications in international journals and a coveted speaker at congresses and conferences.

PD Dr Dietmar Schlembach (MD) is an expert in Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Obstetrics. Since May 2014, he is Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Vivantes Clinic Berlin-Neukölln, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

PD Dr Schlembach addresses the specific problems and treatment of pregnancy complications (such as hypertensive disorders and intrauterine growth restriction) as well as prenatal diagnosis and therapy. His clinical and research focus is screening, diagnosis and treatment of hypertensive disorders and intrauterine growth restriction, preterm birth and prenatal diagnosis and therapy of fetal abnormalities.

He is currently a board member of the German Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics and secretary of the Working Group Obstetrics and Prenatal Medicine of the German Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He’s also secretary of the German Society of Prenatal- and Obstetric Medicine. He is Chairman of the Trustee Board of EFCNI.