Edith Coonen - Edith Coonen is a Senior Clinical Embryologist working at the department of Reproductive Medicine next to a laboratory specialist in Reproductive Genetics employed by the department of Clinical Genetics at the Maastricht University Medical Centre (MUMC+), the Netherlands. She is appointed assistant professor at Maastricht University and National coordinator Preimplantation Genetic Testing (PGT). Edith is actively involved in research concerning innovations in reproductive genetics and research aimed at elucidating the relationship between laboratory aspects of ART procedures and ART outcome, which includes research using embryo stem cell models. She is (co)author of close to 60 peer reviewed scientific articles, including international guidelines and expert opinion papers and a collaborator on various projects under the auspices of the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (EDQM), Council of Europe. Edith is very much dedicated to the education of (PhD) students and professionals in the fields of Reproductive Medicine and Reproductive Genetics and an experienced speaker at international congresses, workshops and training courses. She is past chair of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) PGT Consortium and currently a member of the ESHRE Executive Committee, as well as a member of the Education Committee of the European Society of Human Genetics (ESHG) . Both on a national and European scale, she is an advisory partner for politicians and advisory councils where the drafting of legislation and /or reports is concerned. 

 

Rob Vreeken - Rob Vreeken studied Analytical Chemistry (Leiden University) with special classes on environmental law and advanced biology, aiming  to apply his knowledge in an environmental context. After a PhD at the Free University (Amsterdam) and a post-doctoral stay at the EPFL (Lausanne, Switzerland) het returned back to the Netherlands to lead a group at KIWA (now-called KWR) focussing on chromatography & Mass Spectrometry to identify and quantify pollutants in Dutch surface and drinking waters. After a couple of yrs he moved to TNO (Zeist, NL) to i) initiate and teach the 1st, vendor independant, hands-on courses on LC-MS (a novel technique massively jumped on by Pharma and industry) and ii) apply chromatography-MS technologies in a wide array of applications. Here he widened his view to include pharma, life sciences. After some yrs he joined one the MS vendors to set-up a new EU-focussed collaborative-, demo- and training- facility in the Netherlands. A short stay at Avantium made him realize that he needed to return to the MS-world and he got the opportunity to help erect the Netherlands Metabolomics Centre at LACDR (Leiden University) with a core-MS based facility for top-notch biomedical research. The real application of developed methods came when he moved to Janssen Pharma in Beerse (Belgium),where he led a team supporting 1^st in-vivo discovery projects to understand disease states and Mode of action of novel drugs. Combined with a chair at M4I in Maastricht where he focusses (1 day/week) at Mass Spec Imaging and making visible what can not be seen and quantified, this creates a dynamic setting for the joy he gets form his work. since beginning this year he moved to TNO (Leiden) to build a new team around Multi-Omics imaging to support pharma, nutrition, cell Biology etc.

 

Maarten Honing - After being switched from the Atheneum to the HAVO in the 70’s, I graduated in HBO-B Clinical Chemistry (1981) and Immunochemistry (1983) having started a position as (Research) Technician at the VU university medical center in 1981. In 1984, and parallel to my 40-hour job, I started my study physics and chemistry at the University of Amsterdam. I followed the classes in the evening and on Saturday. In 1991 I graduated in physical and analytical chemistry and moved to Barcelona (Spain) for my PhD study at the CSIC. In 1995, I successfully defended my Thesis at the VU University, with prof. Udo Brinkman as my promotor. After my Postdoc, I started at the Contract Research Company PBR, as project manager bioanalysis and head of the LC-MSMS laboratory. In 1997, I switched gears, and became group and section leader/ research fellow at Organon, being fully involved in the discovery and development of new medicinal drugs. In 2010 I was invited to be a parttime professor at the VU University (Analytics in Drug Discovery) and shifted in September of the same year to the Dutch chemical company DSM. Here I was appointed Science Director at DSM resolve, a research department with 100plus scientist in chemistry and polymer materials. In 2017, I was invited to become full professor at the University of Maastricht and left the VU University and DSM. My research is focused on the fate of molecules in biological and chemical systems. I was fortunate to work both at large industrial R&D laboratories, in parallel to academia, applying research linked to fundamental research inspired by industrial problems.

 

Tobias Dancker - My education predominantly happened at Maastricht University. Next to my studies, I accumulated a lot of experience with different extracurriculars (tutoring, Helix etc.) and took part in the Dual Degree Program with Tohoku University in Japan during the pandemic. I am now doing my PhD in the Molecular Imaging Lab of Saarland University, where I have constructed and am now experimenting with a novel endomicroscopy set-up and our STED microscope. A typical day for me involves planning and executing my experiments, some sort of programming and data analysis since we write most of our routines ourselves and usually some form of interdisciplinary discussion or academic writing. My biggest strength at this event is that I can give you detailed advice on how to leverage your UM education (and the adjacent Maastricht extracurriculars) during the application process for a PhD position. 

 

Elke Marsch - My name is Elke Marsch and I completed my Biomedical Sciences Bachelor’s degree in the UK (Durham University) and my Master’s degree at Maastricht University. I continued my PhD studies at the Pathology Department, Maastricht University under CARIM, focusing on atherosclerosis, cholesterol metabolism and hypoxia. Supported by personal grants (Kootstra and Marie Curie Fellowship), I started a PostDoc at the KU Leuven in 2016. I discontinued the PostDoc in 2017, because the travel resulting from my partner’s self-employment in the Netherlands did not allow me to develop my research to a depth that I wanted. Instead, I started as a freelance Scientific Writer, which allows me to work flexibly from home or the clients’ locations and is perfect to combine with my partner’s business, family life and random side projects that I tend to develop frequently. What I do: I write, assist and advised researchers on their grant applications, including EU grants, Dutch (e.g, NWO, ZonMW, KWF) and German grants. My clients come from all over Europe from both academic and industry backgrounds.

 

Mandana Heron - I graduated in Summer 2022. Following my masters in Maastricht, I took a few months off before starting to work as a Medical Representative in a startup specialized in medical cannabis. Whilst I really loved this job, unfortunately the company had budget cuts and had to lay off all their employees. I quickly found another job in consultancy as a Business Manager in the Life Sciences division. My current job touches on business development, recruitment and people management, mainly within the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector.

 

Marieke Schor - Upon completing my (bio)molecular sciences degree, I initially pursued an academic career. During my time as a PhD and postdoctoral researcher I used a wide variety of wet lab and in silico techniques to probe protein folding and self-assembly. In 2017 I decided to leave the academic career path. I briefly worked to foster industry-academic collaborations before starting a patent attorney traineeship. In 2020 I joined the UM library as an information specialist working primarily with FSE and FHML. What I love most about my current job is its diverse nature: developing online training material on information, data, and digital literacy skills, training students to find and work with sources in a systematic and critical manner, supporting researchers and students in their systematic literature reviews, advising on and budgeting for the collection (e.g. journals, books), developing processes and services to ensure a good fit with the future needs of the UM students and staff, etc. No two days are the same. 

 

Maarten Kok - After studying Biomedical Sciences, I started working in the field service of the pharmaceutical company MSD, as a medical representative. After two years in this sales role, during which I promoted a new diabetes treatment to general practitioners, I transitioned to the medical department. At Bristol-Myers Squibb, I began as a Medical Science Manager, a position focused on interacting with leading physicians in their fields. This involved organizing training sessions and advisory boards, as well as one-on-one dialogues with professors. Within the medical department, I advanced to a hybrid role where I was responsible for both medical contacts and office work. This office work included approving promotional materials, initiating new studies, training colleagues on content, and keeping up with literature in the therapeutic field.

After a reorganization, during which diabetes products were sold to AstraZeneca, I continued in this Medical Advisor role. Following this, I made a transition to Novo Nordisk, a significant international player in diabetes and obesity. Here, I focused solely on office tasks, in addition to coaching new medical colleagues.

Ultimately, a year ago, I chose to work for a small Dutch company, Goodlife Pharma, which has been a significant change in terms of collaboration, culture, and the breadth of the role. This last aspect includes responsibilities across various therapeutic areas, from fertility and urology to diabetes and obesity.

 

Lesley Schuitmaker -  I am Lesley Schuitmaker, originally from Kerkrade and I am 25 years old. In 2018, I started my bachelor in Biomedical Sciences in Maastricht and decided to continue studying in Maastricht for the master Biomedical Sciences with a specialization in Inflammation and Pathophysiology. At the end of my master, I performed my 10-month internship at the department of Precision Medicine at Maastricht University and was lucky enough that I was able to stay in this department to do my PhD. Currently, I am a second-year PhD student, who is involved in cancer research and various roles in education.