Chairman of the Institute of Veterinary Physiology and of the Zurich Center of Integrative Physiology (ZIHP) of the University of Zurich. Max Gassmann was born in Peru, studied veterinary medicine at the University of Zurich, was postdoctoral fellow in Stanford were he joined the scientific team of Nobel laureate Prof. Paul Berg and was senior investigator at the Institute of Human Physiology until 2001, when he was appointed full professor of physiology.

He is a world expert in the field of reduced oxygen supply tot he body (hypoxia) and red blood cells. He met Christoph Nussbaum from VITA Health Care 25 years ago and works with him since then.