Eva-Maria Beneke, a retired senior teacher of educa­tional science and art, stud­ied at the Univer­sity of Duisburg-Essen and passed the first and second state exam­i­na­tions to become a teacher at high schools and compre­hen­sive schools in the subjects of educa­tional science and art. After gain­ing her first teach­ing expe­ri­ence at the Schloss Heessen rural board­ing school in Hamm, she moved to the St. Franziskus Voca­tional College in Hamm in 2015. There, she teaches, among others, aspir­ing early child­hood educa­tors. Artis­ti­cally, she focuses partic­u­larly on graphic design and paint­ing. Her special goal is to instill a love of creative expres­sion and to facil­i­tate inter­ac­tion among people with disabil­i­ties through artis­tic processes.

Dr. Rudolf Beyer, M.D., is a special­ist in anes­the­si­ol­ogy, an emer­gency medi­cine physi­cian, and a pain manage­ment special­ist. Since 2014, he has headed the inter­dis­ci­pli­nary Conter­gan clinic at the Schön Klinik Hamburg, where he focuses on provid­ing medical care to people with Contergan-related impairments.
In addi­tion to his clin­i­cal work, he has served as a ship’s physi­cian in Antarc­tica and on Spits­ber­gen, as well as a diving physi­cian in the Maldives. He is a co-author of the books *Living with Conter­gan* (2022) and *Essen­tials of Conter­gan* (2025) and regu­larly publishes and gives lectures on medical issues related to thalido­mide embryopathy.

Heinz-Günter Dickel, who holds a degree in public admin­is­tra­tion (FH), initially served as a tempo­rary soldier in the Bundeswehr and subse­quently joined the federal admin­is­tra­tion. After complet­ing his stud­ies at the Federal Univer­sity of Applied Sciences for Public Admin­is­tra­tion, he began work­ing at the Federal Office for Civil­ian Service in 1991 and later at the Federal Office for Family and Civil Soci­ety Affairs (BAFzA). There, he held vari­ous lead­er­ship posi­tions and, begin­ning in 2014, headed the Depart­ment for National and Supra­na­tional Fund­ing Programs at the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citi­zens, Women, and Youth (BMFSFJ). Since May 2021, he has served as an honorary member of the board of the Conter­gan Foundation.

Dr. Christina Ding-Greiner, M.D., stud­ied medi­cine in Heidel­berg and Vienna and earned her Ph.D. at the Insti­tute of Pathol­ogy at the Univer­sity of Heidel­berg. After work­ing as a physi­cian in inter­nal medi­cine and ortho­pe­dics, she went on to complete a degree in geron­tol­ogy at the Univer­sity of Heidel­berg. From 2001 to 2023, she was a research asso­ciate at the Insti­tute of Geron­tol­ogy there. In her research, teach­ing, and contin­u­ing educa­tion work, she focuses in partic­u­lar on aging processes, long-term care, disabil­ity, and preven­tive health care. For many years, she has placed a special empha­sis on the health effects and long-term conse­quences of thalido­mide. She has super­vised five projects on this topic and is active as an author, consul­tant, and speaker.

Andrea Engel is a staff member of the Inter­essen­ver­band Contergan­geschädigter NRW e.V. (North Rhine-Westphalia Asso­ci­a­tion of Conter­gan Victims) and the contact person at the Egmond Circle’s confer­ence office. Since 2017, she has been work­ing as the coor­di­na­tor of the Outpa­tient Center for Conter­gan Victims at the Dr. Becker Rhein-Sieg Clinic in Nümbrecht.

There, she supports patients from the initial contact through the plan­ning and execu­tion of their visits to follow-up care. She conducts initial consul­ta­tions, coor­di­nates appoint­ments and proce­dures, and serves as the patients’ personal point of contact during their stay. She places partic­u­lar impor­tance on reli­able orga­ni­za­tion, atten­tively address­ing indi­vid­ual needs and concerns, and provid­ing person­al­ized and respect­ful care.

Georg Gerber is a free­lance photog­ra­pher special­iz­ing in social and event photog­ra­phy. His career in photog­ra­phy began in 1990 when he enrolled at the Folk­wang School in Essen, where he special­ized in photo­jour­nal­ism. As part of the “Egmond Circle,” he and his colleagues docu­ment the events through photography.

In 2021, he took photos for the first time on behalf of the Conter­gan victims at the “Lebens­fest” (Festi­val of Life) orga­nized by the Conter­gan Victims’ Asso­ci­a­tion. In 2023, he also docu­mented the annual gath­er­ing of the Conter­gan victims through photog­ra­phy; in addi­tion, he regu­larly photographs their Christ­mas parties.

Priv.-Doz. Dr. med. Carsten Giet­zen is a board-certified radi­ol­o­gist and, since July 2026, has served as a senior physi­cian at the Insti­tute for Diag­nos­tic and Inter­ven­tional Radi­ol­ogy at the Univer­sity Hospi­tal of Cologne, where he heads the cardiac CT program.

After complet­ing his medical stud­ies at Julius Maxi­m­il­ian Univer­sity of Würzburg, he completed his resi­dency in radi­ol­ogy at the Univer­sity Hospi­tals of Würzburg and Cologne. His clin­i­cal areas of exper­tise include cardiac MRI and cardiac CT, aortic and vascu­lar imag­ing, and emer­gency imag­ing. His research focuses in partic­u­lar on cardio­vas­cu­lar MRI, contrast-free MR angiog­ra­phy, and the use of arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence in radi­o­log­i­cal diagnostics.

Since Janu­ary 2024, he has been the prin­ci­pal inves­ti­ga­tor for the German Conter­gan Foun­da­tion’s cardio­vas­cu­lar study.

Anja Harten­fels has been an employee of the Asso­ci­a­tion of Conter­gan Victims in North Rhine-Westphalia (Inter­essen­ver­band Contergan­geschädigter NRW e.V.) since 2022. Together with two colleagues, she coor­di­nates treat­ment appoint­ments at the Outpa­tient Center for Conter­gan Victims in Nümbrecht. Since August 2026, the coor­di­na­tion team has also been sched­ul­ing and orga­niz­ing treat­ment appoint­ments at the newly launched ortho­pe­dic univer­sity clinic at the Univer­sity Hospi­tal of Cologne.

Nora Kolbe is a clin­i­cal psychol­o­gist (M.Sc.) and a research asso­ciate at the Depart­ment of Psycho­so­mat­ics and Psychother­apy at the Univer­sity Hospi­tal of Cologne. She works as a psychother­a­pist in train­ing at the hospital’s Conter­gan clinic. She is also a member of the research work­ing group at the Medical Compe­tence Center. In addi­tion to her inter­est in morphol­ogy, her work focuses on psycho-oncology and consultation-liaison psychosomatics.

Michael Lapp has a back­ground in para-swimming. He was a compet­i­tive athlete for many years and a member of the German para-national team. In the S8 class, he won medals at three Para­lympic Games, became a world cham­pion, and set a world record. Even during his compe­ti­tions, he always had a camera with him. After retir­ing from compet­i­tive sports, he turned his passion into a career. Today, he photographs sports events, other events, land­scapes, and nature, among other subjects.

Prof. h. c. Dr. Stephan Martin is a physi­cian special­iz­ing in ortho­pe­dics and pedi­atric ortho­pe­dics, as well as a senior physi­cian at the MZEB Bruno-Valentin Insti­tute at the DIAKOVERE Annas­tift in Hanover. Since 2022, the center has been funded by the Conter­gan Foun­da­tion as a multi­dis­ci­pli­nary medical center of excel­lence (MMK). In addi­tion, Stephan Martin serves as the state physi­cian for people with phys­i­cal disabil­i­ties in Lower Saxony.

Klaus Michels discov­ered his passion for kites at the age of twelve, together with his brother. Using trac­ing paper, balsa wood, and thread from a cobbler’s shop, they built a diamond kite—his first single-line kite. Many years later, he was given a kite as a gift while on vaca­tion. Since then, his passion for the inter­play between wind and kites has grown steadily. Today, he flies his kites at kite festi­vals and enjoys them immensely. Due to his thalidomide-related disabil­ity, Klaus Michels uses vari­ous assis­tive devices for kite flying, which he has assem­bled, had custom-made, or built himself.

Cead Mhile Fáilte – Celtic Folk Bard & Song­writer. I play Irish and Scot­tish folk music, my own songs, and a few covers of older pop songs.

Cerstin Mort­siefer is a regis­tered nurse and has been work­ing in nurs­ing for the Conter­gan Victims’ Asso­ci­a­tion of North Rhine-Westphalia (Inter­essen­ver­band Contergan­geschädigter NRW e.V.) since 2021. She advises, supports, and assists people with Contergan-related disabil­i­ties with all matters related to nurs­ing care and support. Her areas of focus include prepar­ing for assess­ments by the Medical Service, nurs­ing insur­ance bene­fits, accom­pa­ny­ing clients to doctor’s appoint­ments, and provid­ing support for inpa­tient reha­bil­i­ta­tion programs.

She places partic­u­lar impor­tance on provid­ing support on an equal foot­ing, where indi­vid­ual concerns are addressed collab­o­ra­tively. Together with Andrea Engel and Anja Harten­fels, she coor­di­nates treat­ment appoint­ments at Prof. Dr. Peters’ Outpa­tient Center (MZEB) in Nümbrecht. Since August 2026, the coor­di­na­tion team has also been work­ing in collab­o­ra­tion with Prof. Dr. Peters at the ortho­pe­dic outpa­tient clinic of the Univer­sity Hospi­tal of Cologne. There, Cerstin Mort­siefer supports patients and guides them through their treat­ment day.

Priv.-Doz. Dr. med. Alexan­der Niecke is the deputy direc­tor of the Clinic and Poly­clinic for Psycho­so­mat­ics and Psychother­apy at the Univer­sity Hospi­tal of Cologne. He is a board-certified special­ist in psychi­a­try and psychother­apy as well as in psycho­so­matic medi­cine, and he is also a psycho-oncologist and group train­ing analyst. His clin­i­cal areas of focus include inpa­tient psychother­apy and, since 2017, lead­ing a psychother­a­peu­tic Conter­gan clinic. He heads the Medical Conter­gan Compe­tence Center in Cologne and is deputy direc­tor of the “Thalido­mide Embry­opa­thy Patient Registry.” His research focuses, among other things, on mental health comor­bid­ity, group psychother­apy, the psychoso­cial conse­quences of thalido­mide embry­opa­thy, and disability-sensitive psychotherapy.

Prof. Dr. med. Klaus M. Peters stud­ied medi­cine at the Univer­si­ties of Cologne and Basel. After hold­ing research posi­tions at the Univer­sity Surgi­cal Clinic in Cologne and the Ortho­pe­dic Clinic at RWTH Aachen, he served as a senior physi­cian at Ingol­stadt Hospi­tal begin­ning in 1994. From 1995 to 2025, he served as chief of ortho­pe­dics and oste­ol­ogy at the Dr. Becker Rhein-Sieg Clinic in Nümbrecht. From 2017 to 2026, he also served as direc­tor of the MZEB for Conter­gan victims and adults with rare diseases involv­ing the muscu­loskele­tal system.

His areas of exper­tise include the diag­no­sis and treat­ment of dysmelia, partic­u­larly skele­tal abnor­mal­i­ties caused by thalido­mide, as well as research into the conse­quences of thalido­mide embry­opa­thy. Since 2026, he has been work­ing at the St. Franziskus Medical Center and as a research asso­ciate at the Univer­sity Ortho­pe­dic Clinic in Cologne.

Ali Rafieep­our, born in 1975 in Rudsar in north­ern Iran, is a photog­ra­pher and direc­tor of socially crit­i­cal docu­men­taries. He grew up in a cultur­ally sophis­ti­cated, educated middle-class family between the Hyrcan­ian forests and the coast of the Caspian Sea. A sense of social respon­si­bil­ity, as well as the pursuit of free­dom, love, peace, and human dignity, shaped his family envi­ron­ment. At his mother’s express request, he took a photog­ra­phy course as a teenager, which opened his eyes to the world of visual art.

A confronta­tional encounter during his first black-and-white photo shoot in the alleys of his home­town made him real­ize early on just how exis­ten­tial and trans­for­ma­tive docu­men­tary work can be. For Ali Rafieep­our, photog­ra­phy is not merely a deco­ra­tive image, but an authen­tic testi­mony that reveals hidden truths and exposes injus­tices. His social docu­men­tary work explores the human condi­tion, cultural and intel­lec­tual diver­sity, and the rela­tion­ships indi­vid­u­als have with them­selves, soci­ety, the envi­ron­ment, and the world.

Susanne Schmitt has been fasci­nated by qigong for many years as a way to replen­ish her energy reserves and feel renewed vital­ity. In 2003, she completed her train­ing as a Qigong instruc­tor and has been teach­ing ever since. From 2012 to 2014, she completed advanced train­ing to become a Qigong teacher; she is recog­nized by statu­tory health insur­ance providers in the field of preven­tive care.

It is partic­u­larly impor­tant to her to make Qigong acces­si­ble to people with vary­ing phys­i­cal abil­i­ties. That is why she adapts the move­ments to each indi­vid­ual and teaches both stand­ing and sitting exer­cises. People who use wheel­chairs and those with chronic illnesses also partic­i­pate in her regu­lar classes in Biele­feld. In 2015, she offered Qigong at the Inter­na­tional Conter­gan Meet­ing in Tener­ife. In 2024, she also completed her train­ing as a Peter Hess® sound massage prac­ti­tioner and has been offer­ing person­al­ized sound massages ever since.

Stefan Schröder is a trained indus­trial clerk and has been the head of sales at an inter­na­tional project freight forward­ing company for several years. In his free time, the 66-year-old is passion­ate about cycling—still riding a conven­tional bike with­out elec­tric assis­tance. Together with his part­ner and her dogs, he also regu­larly takes trips in a motorhome: from short getaways along the Moselle to extended tours to the Baltic Sea, the Alps, and desti­na­tions such as Croa­tia, France, and Spain.

Nina Sörensen is a phys­i­cal ther­a­pist and has been work­ing for the Inter­essen­ver­band Contergan­geschädigter NRW e.V. since 2016. After work­ing as a ther­a­pist special­iz­ing in spinal cord injuries, she tran­si­tioned to the assis­tive tech­nol­ogy indus­try in 2004. There, she initially worked for manu­fac­tur­ers and, start­ing in 2007, at a medical supply store.

At the asso­ci­a­tion, she is respon­si­ble for provid­ing advice on assis­tive devices across the entire spectrum—from health insur­ance bene­fits to custom-made devices, includ­ing special-purpose designs and 3D-printed items. In addi­tion, she provides support with appli­ca­tions for fund­ing for assis­tive devices and home modi­fi­ca­tions, as well as with appeals against denial notices from health insur­ance compa­nies. Her respon­si­bil­i­ties also include plan­ning and conduct­ing events and work­shops on topics related to thalidomide.

He is a trained elec­tri­cian and stud­ied indus­trial engi­neer­ing. He has been work­ing for the Conter­gan Victims’ Asso­ci­a­tion of North Rhine-Westphalia (Inter­essen­ver­band Contergan­geschädigter NRW e.V.) since 2016.

His work focuses on making the living envi­ron­ment acces­si­ble. He advises and supports those affected in plan­ning and imple­ment­ing indi­vid­u­al­ized solutions—ranging from struc­tural modi­fi­ca­tions and reno­va­tions to measures for improv­ing mobil­ity, as well as assist­ing with appli­ca­tions to the rele­vant fund­ing agencies.

Barbara Wenzel-Heyberg works for the Conter­gan Victims’ Asso­ci­a­tion of North Rhine-Westphalia (Inter­essen­ver­band Contergan­geschädigter NRW e.V.). Since 2011, she has served as the admin­is­tra­tive back­bone of the main office. She coor­di­nates admin­is­tra­tive tasks, supports the peer-to-peer program and the board of direc­tors, and provides orga­ni­za­tional support to her team. As the first point of contact on the phone, she listens atten­tively to clients’ concerns and responds with empa­thy in diffi­cult situations.

Her work focuses partic­u­larly on provid­ing indi­vid­u­al­ized, one-on-one assis­tance and support tailored to personal needs. At the inter­na­tional confer­ence in Egmond aan Zee, she will draw on this expe­ri­ence to serve as a reli­able point of contact for partic­i­pants at the confer­ence office.