What does it take to build one of Europe’s leading research institutes in Regenerative Medicine? In this inspiring conversation, we speak with Professor Clemens van Blitterswijk, a pioneer in tissue engineering and founder of the MERLN Institute for Technology-Inspired Regenerative Medicine in Maastricht, the Netherlands.
The conversation touches on many turning points: building companies during crises, navigating the choice between academia and business, and leading a remarkable transfer of sixteen colleagues to establish a new research institute.
Clemens reflects on the right time to commercialize discoveries and how coincidental findings can lead to breakthroughs in top journals. He shares insights on helping startups through RegMed XB and the delicate art of knowing when to push forward and when to stop. We also discussed why art and science are more closely related than we think.
From biomaterials that grow bone to Clemens’ vision for high-throughput technologies, this interview reveals a scientist-entrepreneur who has not only advanced regenerative medicine but also built bridges between universities, startups, and patients – pushing regenerative medicine field forward.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction to Biomed unleashed
00:27 Guest Introduction
01:27 Welcome
02:00 What sparked Prof. Clemens van Blitterswijk’s interest in regenerative medicine?
03:40 How to get a job?
05:13 Differences in setting up your own lab back then and now
06:10 Founding companies
09:33 Combining research and entrepreneurship as a profession
11:05 Clemens’ thoughts about combining academia and entrepreneurship when he was a bachelor student
12:22 Interest in science when Clemens was a child
13:10 Illusion of having everything under control
14:10 Building company during crisis
16:00 Advice to people to keep going in difficult life situation
18:11 Dilemma: academia research or business management?
21:05 Leaving one university and transferring your lab to another, why and how?
22:45 Why coming to Maastricht (the Netherlands)?
24:27 What to do when you do not agree with the situation?
25:08 Mega transfer of 16 staff members from one university to another and building the MERLN Institute for Technology Inspired Regenerative Medicine in Maastricht (the Netherlands)
27:12 Balance of freedom and structure in the MERLN Institute
30:00 Believe or be critical? How to keep the same sense of purpose in large organizations?
32:18 Bringing science to application to help patients
33:57 Materials that can grow bone tissue (without cells) even in skin - Kuros Biosciences
37:18 Helping new regenerative medicine companies (startups) - RegMed XB
40:16 Complexity of financing research
42:25 Fostering collaborations between universities in the Netherlands - RegMed XB
44:36 Thoughts on future collaborations between universities in Europe
45:36 Retirement and influence
48:48 Helping university spin-offs
49:45 What is the right time to start commercializing your research?
51:59 Coincidental findings in research that lead to publications in Nature and Advanced Materials
54:36 Serendipity and talent to see when something is special
56:03 Is it possible to develop the talent of seeing when something is special?
58:11 Being able to stop at a right moment is essential
58:34 Art and science
1:00:05 The project that Prof. Clemens van Blitterswijk is most proud of
1:02:30 High throughput technologies for research
1:05:22 Abandon fundamental scientific approach of first understanding and then applying
1:05:35 Lab and cell organization are more similar than we think
1:07:08 How to have a satisfying scientific career?
1:08:22 Last question!
1:09:09 Meet Biomed Unleashed Team
1:09:39 Biomed Unleashed Outro
Host: Alisa Ovsiannikova
Writers: Alisa Ovsiannikova, Misha Bagirov
Editor: Misha Bagirov
Promotion: Amaliya Bagdasaryan, Alba Villagrasa Martin
Coordinator: Alisa Ovsiannikova
MERLN Institute for Technology-Inspired Regenerative Medicine https://merlninstitute.com