Since 2020 Niels has been leading Innovation Activation for Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS in the Netherlands, leveraging the strong footprint of Johnson & Johnson in the country. Activations are aligned closely to local life sciences ecosystem initiatives and stakeholders.

Niels has been with Johnson & Johnson since 2015 when he joined as communications manager for Janssen Infectious Diseases & Vaccines R&D. He supported the leadership team in roles of increasing responsibilities, including internal communications, external communications and change communications.

Before joining Johnson & Johnson, Niels worked for agency Hyphen Projects, which is specialized in events and publications in life sciences. He helped organize events such as Innovation for Health, BCF Career Event and BioBusiness Summer School.

Viggo received a PhD in cell & gene therapy in 2000 and was a full professor in Cellular Immunotherapy at the University of Antwerp (2007-2023). In 2005 he co-founded the first FAGG authority-approved Center for Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine (CCRG) at the Antwerp University Hospital where he served as the scientific director until 2012 and later as Lab Director, Immunomonitoring & Translational Research until 2019. He has authored over 150 peer-reviewed publications (h-index 54), several books and book chapters on cell therapy, nonviral gene transfer and cancer immunotherapy.