Startup
From Science to Startups: A Conversation with the Head of New Ventures at VIB
Karen De Ceunynck
Karen De Ceunynck, PhD, is a biomedical scientist with over a decade of experience in early drug discovery across academia, biotech, and pharma. She earned her PhD from KU Leuven Campus Kortrijk, where her research focused on the fundamental mechanisms underlying blood clotting disorders. She then moved to Boston, USA, for a postdoctoral fellowship at BIDMC/Harvard Medical School, studying the role of the endothelium in blood clotting. After completing her postdoctoral training, Karen joined Bioverativ (a Sanofi company), where she co-led a biologics drug discovery program in rare bleeding disorders. She later joined a start-up as biology lead, directing preclinical programs in Hemophilia A and Duchenne muscular dystrophy for a novel non-viral gene therapy platform. Most recently, she was Associate Director of Alliance Management at a university technology transfer office in Cambridge, USA, where she managed strategic research partnerships between Harvard faculty and industry partners. In the summer of 2024, Karen returned to Gent, Belgium, where she has been actively reconnecting with the local biotech ecosystem through networking and by contributing interviews for BiotechNews.
Karen De Ceunynck, PhD, is a biomedical scientist with over a decade of experience in early drug discovery across academia, biotech, and pharma. She earned her PhD from KU Leuven Campus Kortrijk, where her research focused on the fundamental mechanisms underlying blood clotting disorders. She then moved to Boston, USA, for a postdoctoral fellowship at BIDMC/Harvard Medical School, studying the role of the endothelium in blood clotting. After completing her postdoctoral training, Karen joined Bioverativ (a Sanofi company), where she co-led a biologics drug discovery program in rare bleeding disorders. She later joined a start-up as biology lead, directing preclinical programs in Hemophilia A and Duchenne muscular dystrophy for a novel non-viral gene therapy platform. Most recently, she was Associate Director of Alliance Management at a university technology transfer office in Cambridge, USA, where she managed strategic research partnerships between Harvard faculty and industry partners. In the summer of 2024, Karen returned to Gent, Belgium, where she has been actively reconnecting with the local biotech ecosystem through networking and by contributing interviews for BiotechNews.
Karen De Ceunynck, PhD, is a biomedical scientist with over a decade of experience in early drug discovery across academia, biotech, and pharma. She earned her PhD from KU Leuven Campus Kortrijk, where her research focused on the fundamental mechanisms underlying blood clotting disorders. She then moved to Boston, USA, for a postdoctoral fellowship at BIDMC/Harvard Medical School, studying the role of the endothelium in blood clotting. After completing her postdoctoral training, Karen joined Bioverativ (a Sanofi company), where she co-led a biologics drug discovery program in rare bleeding disorders. She later joined a start-up as biology lead, directing preclinical programs in Hemophilia A and Duchenne muscular dystrophy for a novel non-viral gene therapy platform. Most recently, she was Associate Director of Alliance Management at a university technology transfer office in Cambridge, USA, where she managed strategic research partnerships between Harvard faculty and industry partners. In the summer of 2024, Karen returned to Gent, Belgium, where she has been actively reconnecting with the local biotech ecosystem through networking and by contributing interviews for BiotechNews.
