Academia vs Industry

30 May 2024 - Utrecht

This interesting discussion is for MSc and PhD students and postdocs who are on the fence. Do you want to continue your career in academic research, or should you try working in the industry? In this session our academic or industry experts will discuss the pros and cons of both paths. At the end of the session, the audience (you!) will get the opportunity to get involved.

Panel members Academia

Sophie Bots | Assistant Professor in Pharmacoepidemiology Methods | Utrecht University

Sophie has a background in Epidemiology and has experience with using regular care data for research from her PhD on sex differences in the safety and efficacy of cardiovascular medication. Her current work focusses on the methodological challenges surrounding the use of observational real world data for research, applied to topics relevant to society such as the safety of COVID-19 vaccinations and sex differences in de safety and dosage of cardiovascular medication.

Marten Hoeksema | Principal Investigator, Assistant Professor | Amsterdam UMC

Marten did his PhD at the Amsterdam Medical Center (2016), then went to UC San Diego, CA (USA) for his post-doctoral training. he returned to the Amsterdam UMC in 2021 with a Marie Curie fellowship and is now starting his own group, supported by an ERC StG. His research focusses on the transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of macrophages in health and (inflammatory or cardiovascular) disease. In particular, he is interested in how gene enhancers function: which transcriptional regulators activate enhancers when macrophages are exposed to disease-associated signals, what genetic variants affect enhancer activity and how does this in turn result in differential gene expression?

About Amsterdam UMC
Amsterdam UMC is a leading medical center that combines complex high-quality patient care, innovative scientific research, and education of the next generation health care professionals. We believe that health care practice, research and education belong together, with each shaping and informing the other.Amsterdam UMC is home to eight research institutes: informal networks of research groups and departments working on various aspects of the same research theme. Several of the research institutes are joint institutes with other faculties of the University of Amsterdam and/or the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Panel members Industry

Emanuela Giacometti | Business development large strategic partnerships | Philips

Emanuela is Director in the Services and Solutions organization where she focuses on developing Managed Services partnerships with large hospitals and diagnostic centers. She organizes for commercial and operational success of these contracts. Emanuela joined Philips in 2011 where she progressed through different assignments in interventional cardiology, Ultrasound and professional services divisions. Before joining Philips Emanuela was a consultant in McKinsey & Company where she worked with executive clients in the Healthcare and Pharmaceutical sector. During her university studies she worked as a research assistant in Novartis and has a PhD in Neuroscience working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Emanuela also volunteers for medical startups and social ventures as a commercial and marketing advisor.

About Philips
Philips Medical Systems is a global leader in health technology, improving billions of lives worldwide and striving to make the world healthier and more sustainable through innovation. Our portfolio covers different technologies in cardiology, radiology, oncology, acute care, patient monitoring and informatics.

Martin Verkuyl | Senior Program Director | Scenic Biotech

Martin is Program Director at Scenic Biotech, where he leads the drug discovery programs for Galactosemia and Barth Syndrome. Before joining Scenic, Martin led the Neuroscience Centre of Excellence at Nutricia. With his team, he developed new nutritional concepts, ensured IP protection, and supported and initiated biomarker research and clinical studies. His career in industry started at Novartis in the UK, where he headed an ion channel pharmacology lab and was a global project leader developing new drugs for Pain and Cystic Fibrosis.

Martin has a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Amsterdam and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Friedrich Miescher Institute in Basel, Switzerland.

About Scenic Biotech

Scenic is a biotech located at the Science Park in Amsterdam. Using its platform, Cell-seq, Scenic exploits the concept of genetic modifiers to find novel targets for the treatment of inborn errors of metabolism.

Moderator

Remco Jongkind | Programme Manager Education | Hyphen Projects

Remco Jongkind's aim is to help people move their careers forward by coordinating the Talent Accelerator Programme for BioBusiness at Hyphen Projects. Furthermore he is responsible for the Dutch labour market research of the Health and Life Science Academy, an EU funded consortium. This allows him to obtain a good overview of the current needs of employers. Besides his job at Hyphen Projects he also works as a lecturer at the faculty of medicine at the University of Amsterdam.

FULL PROGRAMME HERE