What do you do at VU and how long do you work there?
"I have been working at VU in the Department of Physics since 2000. In fact, I also studied and did my PhD here, did work in Chicago and Paris for a few years, but returned! I am a professor in the Biophotonics and Medical Imaging section. A few years ago, I decided to take my more fundamental research in a different direction. I am using and developing an innovative microscopic technique, 2nd and 3 harmonic generation, to look at raw tissue very quickly. You can then immediately, without staining the tissue, see cells, cell nuclei, axons, collagen and elastin, etc. That is very applied, I work with different doctors, surgeons and pathologists, and our techniques are now being tested in the clinic, for example to see if a lung biopsy is 'representative', if it contains cancer cells, and what the diagnosis is. We have set up a company, Flash Pathology, to get this technique into all hospitals, because it has great advantages: fewer biopsies need to be taken with these devices, treatment can be started faster and patients get their diagnosis faster. We are also doing very interesting research projects in the lab with this, and I now have another very nice new idea for a new project.
I am also programme director of the Medical Sciences and Biomedical Technology and Physics programmes. That is also great fun to do, working with a team of staff and students to make the programmes better and better.
What is the best thing about working at the Beta Faculty?
"I really enjoy the contact with students. At the bachelor information days and when they come in, they really are still schoolchildren, but you see them grow and develop, and then when they do their bachelor's project or even a master's internship later, they have really become researchers. I myself always have quite a few students in my group, but I also really enjoy being present at the degree ceremonies and then hearing all the things the students have done in their internships, and how they have already played such an important role in their supervisors' research."
What could be better at the faculty?
"The Beta Faculty is, of course, very big. That includes the fact that it sometimes becomes a bit unwieldy and distant. And that you sometimes get the feeling that your research is your private affair, what you do as a kind of hobby on the side."
What book, film, album do you think your colleagues should read, see or hear?
"I must honestly confess that I have a somewhat 'vulgar' taste in terms of books (thrillers and detectives), and like to sit and Netflix a bit in the evening, think Peaky Blinders or Downton Abbey. "
What are your plans this weekend?
"Saturday cosy evening with friends at our place, Sunday with another friend to see my horse, the amazing Bojack."
Who are you handing over the baton to?
"I am happy to hand over the baton to Paul Goossens because in our more practical problems, his name always comes up. And surely it will be a very interesting time for him with all these new buildings, and all the problems that come with them."
Dilemmas
Are you a beta or an alpha?
A beta.
Online meetings or on location?
Better contact on location, but people are quicker to get together online.
Lift or stairs?
Up to 3rd floor stairs, above that lift. I used to take stairs to 6th, but not anymore.
Spar or mensa?
Spar.