The initiative Science to Impact published an interview with Berend van Meer, one of the founders of the Organ-on-Chip Centre Twente. The interview dives into Berends passion for organ-on-chips, combining technology with biology and the added value of knowledge valorisation. In 2019, Berend van Meer was the co-founder of the Organ-on-Chip Center Twente and, until February 2022, its business lead and the person responsible for knowledge valorisation. From 2021 to 2022, he was a board member of the Institute for human organ and Disease Model Technologies (hDMT).
Berend van Meer wanted to become a doctor but did not find the clinical side – ‘all those symptoms and patients’ – attractive. So instead, he studied electrical engineering because he did enjoy taking computers apart. During his studies, he attended a lecture given by Ronald Dekker, a researcher at Philips Research and a part-time professor at TU Delft. It was about “living chips”, and that was a revelation for Van Meer. Since then, his career has been about combining technology and biology and organ-on-chip technology, which he has done as a PhD student, (postdoc) researcher, business developer for knowledge valorisation, co-designer of national infrastructure and – recently – as an entrepreneur.
Read the full interview here.
About Science to Impact
The movement Science to Impact aims to increase the impact of scientific knowledge from an overall perspective of opportunities and challenges in the knowledge ecosystem. From knowledge institutions and companies to investors – all parties that contribute to science and/or the practical use of scientific knowledge are invited to take part in the movement and commit to the nine priorities.
