Empower your career - a female perspective
This session is powered by TOPX Network

28 May 2025 - Utrecht

In this session, each panelist will share a bit about their journey, from where they started to how they reached their current roles. After the introductions, we’ll dive deeper into their unique career paths. Our speakers will discuss the key lessons they've learned along the way and offer valuable advice for women looking to follow in their footsteps. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from and connect with women who are making waves in the Life Sciences!

Speakers

Inge Verbrugge | Translational Medicine Lead and Lab Head | Genmab

Inge Verbrugge is a scientific leader with 20 years of experience across academia and pharma/biotech, working in oncology, immunology, and infectious diseases. She’s currently the Translational Medicine Lead and Lab Head at Genmab, where she leads teams of scientists and research associates to deliver results that help shape decisions in clinical development and to develop translational strategies. Before joining Genmab, Inge was Global Clinical Immunology Lead at Janssen Pharmaceutica and a Project/Group Leader at The Netherlands Cancer Institute, where she worked on Phase 1–3 clinical trials, led research teams and (translational) programs.Having lived and worked in international settings since she was 16, and collaborating with basic scientists and clinicians throughout her career, Inge thrives at the interface of science and clinical application; ‘turning science into medicine’. Beyond her professional roles, she has served on advisory boards and grant committees, reflecting her dedication to advancing life sciences. Known for her creativity and problem-solving skills, Inge is passionate about collaboration, innovation, and tackling challenges head-on. At this session, she’ll share her career journey and offer insights from her diverse experiences.

About Genmab
Genmab is an international biotechnology company with a core purpose to improve the lives of people with cancer and other serious diseases. To help develop and deliver novel therapies to patients, Genmab has formed 20+ strategic partnerships with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Genmab’s proprietary pipeline includes bispecific T-cell engagers, next-generation immune checkpoint modulators, effector function enhanced antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates. Established in 1999, Genmab is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark with locations in Utrecht, the Netherlands, Princeton, New Jersey, U.S. and Tokyo, Japan. For more information, please visit Genmab.com

Charlotte Blessing | Business Development & Alliance Manager | Scenic Biotech

Charlotte Blessing is Business Development & Alliance Manager at Scenic Biotech. Her passion lies in understanding how to effectively develop medicines to combat diseases and save patients’ lives. In her current role as a Scientist at the Amsterdam-based biotech company Scenic Biotech, she identifies novel drug targets and assesses their ability to suppress disease mechanisms of rare genetic disorders.Charlotte obtained a Ph.D. in Molecular Oncology at Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich. Here, she discovered a new pathway that enhances the action of PARP inhibitors, targeted cancer drugs for the treatment of breast and ovarian cancer. Next to her Ph.D. in academia, she helped to establish the scientific pipeline of an early-stage biotech start-up, which exposed her to the early steps of drug development and resulted in a joint patent application.

About Scenic Biotech
Scenic Biotech - a biotech company based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands - is at the forefront of identifying genetic modifiers, naturally occurring genes that compensate for mutations responsible for severe diseases. Robust technologies, reproducible approach and high-resolution insights into disease pathways enable Scenic to develop small-molecule compounds that start with genetic modifiers to provide new therapeutic concepts. By understanding the genome’s power to correct toward health, Scenic Biotech will bring novel therapeutics to patients in need.

Sarah Opitz | Co-Founder & CEO | Fearless League

In every role, from my lab days at Boston Children’s Hospital to my current position as co-founder and CEO of Fearless League, my aim has always been to drive real impact through collaboration and innovation in research. At the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and Novartis, I spearheaded initiatives in education and communication, connecting and supporting diverse research teams. My tenure at the UMC Utrecht involved the established of a comprehensive multidisciplinary strategic research program. Currently, at Fearless League, a Bio-IT company, I'm committed to creating software solutions that empower scientific teams and enhance their productivity and breakthrough potential.

About Fearless League
Fearless League’s mission is to develop intuitive, team-centric software solutions designed to catalyze scientific advancement. Our flagship product, Photo51, is a molecular biology tool that pays tribute to Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling, reflecting our commitment to merging their pioneering spirit with transformative technology. At Fearless League, we’re reimagining how technology empowers collaborative excellence.

Moderator

Alex Cloherty | Marketing & Communications Specialist | Oncode Accelerator

Alex is a scientist by training, but communicating science is her true passion. In all her work, Alex aims to connect her passion for science with her belief that science can only have a positive impact when it is well communicated.Alex holds a PhD in immunology from the University of Amsterdam, which focused on the role of autophagy in host-virus interactions. After her PhD she focussed fully on scientific communications and marketing. Her current role is Marketing & Communications Specialist at Oncode Accelerator, an initiative funded by the Dutch National Growth Fund with a mission to collaboratively optimize and accelerate the development of new cancer therapies for the benefit of patients of all ages. Alex is an award-winning science communicator, enthusiastic speaker and event moderator, and writer and creator of "Microbial Mondays", a project that aims to improve public understanding of microbiology. On the Microbial Mondays website, Alex has published over a hundred articles and short videos that explain biological concepts in jargon-free language. Alex is also a junior ambassador for TOPX, a network and training platform for ambitious women in Life Sciences.

About Oncode Accelerator
Oncode Accelerator is a public-private program which aims to innovate and accelerate the development of new cancer therapies by placing cancer patients at the core of preclinical therapy development.

We realize this through the power of three innovation platforms: Patient Cohorts, Organoids and Artificial Intelligence.
Over 30 partners leverage the full potential of the Dutch innovation ecosystem by building development pipelines for four of the most common types of cancer therapies: Small Molecules, Biologics, Cell and Gene Therapies, and Therapeutic Vaccines.
Our world-class toolbox of state-of-the-art technologies will result in more effective, personalized cancer therapies. This will bring us closer to our overarching vision: outsmarting cancer, impacting lives.
At Innovation for Health, we will announce the opening of our first call and are actively looking for partners in biotech and pharma that can bring lead candidates into our pre-clinical program.

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