Senka Holzer

Once she outgrew the war-dominated politics of her early childhood, Senka Holzer became aware of an even scarier, silent war—the war we’re waging within ourselves. What began as a youthful curiosity grew into a life-long drive to figure out why so many people struggle to be happy with their beautiful, messy, “non-upgraded” authentic selves and how this dissatisfaction relates to their health status. Intuition and scientific interest finally led her to her specialty—heart physiology.

After completing studies in biochemistry at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia, Senka moved to Graz, Austria, to attend a PhD program in Molecular Medicine from the Medical University of Graz. Soon after graduation, Senka was awarded the Austrian Science Fund’s most prestigious postdoctoral fellowship for young female scientists, which led her to the University of California, Davis. While living in California, she entered the world of coaching by completing Professional Coaching for Life and Work at UC Davis Extension and The Science of Happiness at UC Berkeley.

Senka left the coach-training program inspired to understand whether disconnection from our value systems can have detrimental effects on our hearts. She organized a team of coaches, educators, and scientists to conduct an experimental study on life values and how values-based coaching can change levels of wellbeing and stress. In 2015, she received a research award from McLean Hospital’s Institute of Coaching and Harvard Medical School.

To turn her empirical and experimental observations into concepts on how you can promote cardiac health and overall wellbeing by creating a state of satisfaction that weathers the ups and downs of life in a constantly changing world, Senka started Science2Wellbeing. While training coaches from around the globe, Senka discovered remarkable patterns about how top leaders and executives think, act, and communicate about their values and she is excited for every opportunity to spread her knowledge.

Senka is leading the research unit on subcellular ion homeostasis and hypertrophic signaling in cardiac health and disease at the Department of Cardiology of the Medical University of Graz and enjoys sharing her work on human values with her students, friends, professional coaches, leaders and total strangers sitting next to her on a plane.

Senka lives in Graz, Austria with her husband and two cutie-pie kids.