Dr Olivier Menzel, PhD, MBA

Chairman and founder 

Olivier Menzel has long been interested in research. Dr. Olivier Menzel holds a Master’s degree in medical genetics from the University of Geneva (2001) and a Ph.D., obtained in 2006 at EPFL. He also earned an Executive MBA in Healthcare Management from HEC Lausanne and a CAS in Public Health from Unisanté – UNIL. After leading a gene therapy laboratory at the University of Geneva, he founded the BLACKSWAN Foundation in 2010 to raise awareness and resources for research on rare and orphan diseases. He also created the international RE(ACT) congress, now recognized globally. He has held leadership roles at the Health 2030 Genome Center (2018–2022) and served as Senior Health Advisor at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of the FDFA (2022–2025). Currently, as a consultant heading Think Rare Sàrl, he is a co-founder of ProRaris, a member of the Sounding Board for the Swiss Personalized Health Network (SPHN), and vice president of Kosek—the Swiss National Coordination of Rare Diseases.