Viggo Van Tendeloo joined J&J in 2019 and currently works for the J&J Belgium Campus Strategy, Operations and Partnerships team and is responsible for External Scientific Innovation for the Benelux region. Within this role he focuses on the sourcing, screening and evaluation of early partnering opportunities in the Benelux of high strategic value to Johnson & Johnson. Viggo received a PhD in cell & gene therapy in 2000 and was a full professor in Cellular Immunotherapy at the University of Antwerp (2007-2023). In 2005 he co-founded the first FAGG authority-approved Center for Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine (CCRG) at the Antwerp University Hospital where he served as the scientific director until 2012 and later as Lab Director, Immunomonitoring & Translational Research until 2019. He has authored over 150 peer-reviewed publications (h-index 54), several books and book chapters on cell therapy, nonviral gene transfer and cancer immunotherapy.