How did your interest in healthcare come about?
"I already knew I wanted to be a doctor when I was at nursery school. When I had to choose a study programme, I felt that studying medicine would take too long. I still wanted to make a real difference in healthcare and decided to help develop and market new medicines. Using chemistry in medicine is fascinating. It’s amazing that you can take a pill and that this does all kinds of things to your body."
"During an internship I worked in a lab researching HIV. For six months during the winter I entered the basement before nine o’clock when it wasn’t quite light and I left after five o’clock when it was already dark again. That’s not what I had in mind. I found doing laboratory research to be a lonely job and I knew for sure that I didn’t want that. That’s why I chose a Minor in Policy, Management & Entrepreneurship so I could focus on what’s possible outside the lab."
You then ended up at the pharmaceutical company, Boehringer Ingelheim. What do you do there exactly?
"I’m still involved in medicine research but at a later stage. Boehringer markets all kinds of different medicines. The department I manage is involved in clinical research quality and the quality of the information about medicines once they’re on the market. This includes legislation, registration procedures and side-effects that need to be collated. I’m now much more involved in what medicine really means for someone than during my time in the lab. When I hear that someone can start exercising again because of medicine or can go to the gym more often than previously, I really feel I’m on the right track."
What do you think about the criticism of the pharmaceutical industry that it’s mainly all about earning money?
"I think that’s difficult because it runs contrary to my passion of working in the best interests of healthcare. Yes, companies earn money, but people often don’t know that every new medicine involves investing in over ten years of research. Nor do they realise how much research and monitoring still takes place once the medicine is on the market."
"My motivation is pure, but I can’t vouch for the entire pharmaceutical industry. What I do know is that Boehringer is a family company, without shares. That’s something you can see clearly in the business culture. We aren’t a philanthropic institution, but we do have a long-term vision that doesn’t only focus on profit. For example, we have close partnerships with healthcare organisations to improve COPD care (editor: lung disease) and we provide a lot of development assistance internationally as part of the 'Making More Health' initiatives."
Picture: David Meulenbeld
