Kim Heylen obtained a PhD and did a post-doc at UGent. She was promotor of 6 PhD students, and author of >50 A1 peer reviewed papers, as well as advocated for science communication and post-doc career development during her academic career. In 2016 she (finally) switched to Industry and joined Biocartis as biobank manager. After 2 years Kim joined Eurofins Food, Feed and Water as business unit manager, where she re-organized the lab operations. Next, Kim took up a global Innovations Director role at INVE, leading teams in Belgium, Italy and Thailand. She again re-organized the department and implemented a formalized innovation pipeline. Early 2022 Kim joined the family-owned Labo Nuytinck, part of Anacura. Energized by the value driven, long-term approach of the company, she agreed to take up the role of Managing Director from June 1st 2023 onwards.