Maria van Dongen, PhD, is CEO and co-founder of Allegria Therapeutics. She describes herself as an accountable and strategic R&D leader with a passion to unlock cutting-edge scientific innovation to progress drug discovery programs to clinical development, enhance patient outcomes and increase business value. Maria brings 25+ years of experience in pharmaceutical and biotech R&D, across a variety of therapeutic modalities and therapeutic areas. Her proficiency as a CEO is furthermore based on a strong experience in strategic partnering and an ongoing MSc education in business valuation.