The scientific advantage: A personal story of career transformation

27 November 2025 - Ghent ICC

When you look at a CV, you see job titles and companies names but not the story behind them. What's often hidden are the motivations for change, the challenges faced along the way, and the skills that made each transition possible. In this talk, I will share my personal journey from academic research to R&D scientist roles in industry, and later to a position in a technology transfer office as a strategic alliance manager building partnerships between academia and industry. As I now navigate my next career step, I will reflect on the lessons learned, the skills that have proven invaluable across roles, and how they can help us adapt and thrive in times of uncertainty.

Karen De Ceunynck | R&D program and strategic partnerships lead
Karen De Ceunynck, PhD, is a biomedical scientist with over a decade of experience advancing innovative therapeutics across academia, biotech, and pharma. Karen earned her PhD from KU Leuven and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at BIDMC/Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA. Following her postdoc, she joined Bioverativ (a Sanofi company) where she co-led a biologics drug discovery program in the rare bleeding disorders group. She then joined a start-up as the biology lead directing preclinical programs in Hemophilia A and Duchenne Muscular dystrophy for a novel non-viral gene therapy platform. After her time at the start-up, she joined the tech transfer office for a university in Cambridge, USA, as an Associate Director Alliance management. There she managed strategic research partnerships between university faculty and industry partners.

FULL PROGRAMME HERE