Mid-Term Newsletter - January 2020

Newsletter CRS BeNeLux & France Local Chapter 2020

Established in February 2019, the BeNeLux & France (BNLF) Local Chapter aims to bring together scientists in the fields of nanomedicine, drug delivery and release located in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and France. Our Local Chapter stimulates scientific knowledge exchange and collaborations between our members representing at a local level the Controlled Release Society Inc., USA (CRS). 

Supported by the CRS, we contribute to local meetings and conferences, keep our members up to date with news in the field, provide a platform to network, to share scientific content, and to seek for new job opportunities. Our Local Chapter strongly supports Early Career Scientists (ECS) bridging industrial and academic representatives and giving them an additional opportunity to communicate and learn from each other.

1st Satellite Meeting of the Local Chapter: connecting our members

Our Local Chapter took the initiative to organize the very first meeting for our early career scientists. This Satellite Meeting will be held on 7th of April 2020 in Egmond aan Zee, the Netherlands, in collaboration with and preceding the 16th European Symposium on Controlled Drug Delivery (ESCDD) https://www.escdd.eu.

The Satellite Meeting is organized by and dedicated to early career scientists (PhD students and postdocs), providing them with an opportunity to discuss their research and network with international peers. In addition to the plenary oral presentations given by nominated early career scientists, the program consists of key note lectures given by senior researchers from academia and industry and a workshop about publishing and editorial processes given by Prof. Twan Lammers, Associate Editor from Journal of Controlled Release (JCR), sponsored by Elsevier. The meeting will be concluded with an interactive career panel discussion, for which plenary speakers and other academic/industrial representatives are invited to answer questions from the audience regarding their careers. For more details about the event and registration please refer to our website: https://bnlf-crs.org/event-registration.

We acknowledge Bárbara Mesquita (PhD at Utrecht University, the Netherlands) and Charis Rousou (PhD at Utrecht University, the Netherlands) for taking the efforts and organizing this first meeting of our Local Chapter.

We sincerely acknowledge our first sponsors: the Netherlands Society for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering (NBTE) and Elsevier.

Mentorship Program:  provide a network and support early career scientists

Our Local Chapter initiated a Mentorship Program to provide a network and support for early career scientists. The Mentorship Program’s aim is to create a friendly environment where early career scientists can discuss about their careers with established senior researchers. Based on their experience, senior researchers will guide and help them to identify their professional goal. While these mentors can be established scientists from academia or industry, they can also be postdoctoral researchers sharing their recent experiences in taking the next after completion of a PhD step.

During the first round of applications to the Mentorship Program in December 2019 we collected the information from our members who joined the program. The matching process between mentees and mentors started on February 1st 2020. The Local Chapter is now inviting scientists and researchers worldwide to join the program as Mentors for our early career scientists in the second round (middle 2020).

If you are interested in taking part in our Mentorship Program, please contact the Local Chapter via email: mentorship.bnlf.crs@gmail.com. To apply as a mentor, upload a brief CV in the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/request/DbVT2q9y9gH5LlBFxJwo and fill out the survey https://forms.gle/89VQgpra8MkbVbaz9. There is no deadline for Mentor's applications.

We acknowledge Dr. Chiara Bastiancich (Postdoc, Aix Marseille Université, France) for coordinating the Mentorship Program and Ahmad Alkadri (PhD at University of Montpellier, France) for the technical support of the program.

Interviews with Luminaries: get insights into the minds of leading scientists

Following by example of the CRS Young Scientist Committee (YSC), in August 2019 our Local Chapter launched “Interviews with Luminaries”. By carrying out this activity we get insights into the minds of leading scientists, find out what sparks their interest in the field, learn what they enjoy doing in life and look into turning moments in their careers.

Our very first luminary interview was carried out by Early Career Scientist Committee (ECSC) with Prof. Stefaan De Smedt from University of Ghent, Belgium.

Our second luminary interview was carried out with Dr. Cristianne Rijken from Cristal Therapeutics, the Netherlands.

We trust their advices are helpful to early career scientists. Read full interviews on our website: https://bnlf-crs.org/ecsc.

We acknowledge Dr. Anna Lechanteur (Postdoc at Liege University, Belguim) for interviewing the luminaries and updating the website of our Local Chapter.

Webinars: step to make scientific knowledge exchange more sustainable

The number of meetings in the field, which junior and established faculty members can attend, seems to be increasing. There is a need to weight the benefits from these meetings against the environmental and monetary costs of attending them. We believe this might significantly help to reduce unnecessary travel and emission of carbon to the atmosphere. Moreover, scientists who cannot afford to attend the conferences due to lack of funding can have a great opportunity to follow the work of leading researchers in the field. As the first step towards sustainability of scientific knowledge exchange, our Local Chapter has decided to opt for “Webinars”. We believe that other institutions and scientists should encourage researchers to present their work remotely.

The first webinar, hosted via Zoom platform, took place on December 9th 2019. The discussion was led by Dr. Ziya Erdem (Environmental Engineer Consultant, USA), Dr. Ali Seyfoddin (Senior Lecturer, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand) and Dr. Jan Zorgdrager (Principal Consultant, ProPharma Group, the Netherlands) on the topic of “Medicinal Cannabis What is Medicinal Cannabis? Worldwide overview of Scientific Research, Production, Application and Future Perspectives”. You may find the webinar recording on vimeo: https://vimeo.com/378737677

We acknowledge Dr. Maitrayee Chatterjee (Researcher, the Netherlands) and Dr. Anne Rodallec (Lecturer and researcher, Aix-Marseille University, France) for running and coordinating the webinars within the Local Chapter.

Liaisons with other CRS Local Chapters: building up global collaborations

In the last year 2019, our Local Chapter has established a close connection with the CRS Italy, Spanish-Portuguese, UKI, Germany, Canada and Brazil Local Chapters. We encourage other Local Chapters of the CRS to join us in this initiative of connecting with each other. If you are interested in collaborating, feel free to contact us by sending the email to bnlf.crs@gmail.com.

To strengthen the Mentorship Program, we are planning to expand applications for mentors to other countries worldwide and invite all CRS Local Chapters to submit their mentors to our database. We have a vision of expanding this Mentorship Program further to the global level that ultimately could be coordinated by the CRS.

With support of other Local Chapters we also plan to create a “black board” space in the respective webpages and share information regarding the opportunities for mobility-exchange that already exist in different countries. This will be the starting point of the Mobility-Exchange program establishment: share relevant information on our own websites and communication channels with the links to each other.

We acknowledge Dr. Valentina Francia (Postdoc at University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands; University of British Columbia, Canada) and Dr. Giovanna Lollo (Associate Professor at Lyon University, France) for building up collaborations with the other CRS Local Chapters.

Growth of the Early Career Scientist Committee (ECSC)

In the past half a year, our Early Career Scientists Committee has grown reaching 14 active and motivated volunteers:

  1. Aldy Aliyandi (PhD at Groningen University, the Netherlands)
  2. Anna Lechanteur (Postdoc at Liege University, Belguim)
  3. Bárbara Mesquita (PhD at Utrecht University, the Netherlands)
  4. Harita Yedavally (PhD at Groningen University, the Netherlands)
  5. Hector Garcia Romeu (PhD at Groningen University, the Netherlands)
  6. Annalisa Rosso (PhD at Lyon University, France)
  7. Chiara Bastiancich (Postdoc at Aix Marseille Université, France)
  8. Mohamad Tarhini (PostDoc at University of Lyon, France)
  9. Elia Bozzato (Phd at UCLouvain, Belgium)
  10. Jayeeta Sengupta (Entrepreneur, HighTechXL Eindhoven, the Netherlands)
  11. Charis Rousou (PhD at Utrecht University, the Netherlands)
  12. Ahmad Alkadri (PhD at University of Montpellier, France)
  13. Maitrayee Chatterjee (Researcher, the Netherlands)
  14. Anne Rodallec (Lecturer and researcher, Aix-Marseille University, France) 

We are also glad to have four early career scientists on the Board of the Local Chapter: 

  1. Valentina Francia (Postdoc at University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands; University of British Columbia, Canada)
  2. Koen van der Maaden (Postdoc at Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands)
  3. Keni Yang (PhD at Groningen University, the Netherlands)
  4. Natalia Vtyurina (ProPharma Group, the Netherlands).

We acknowledge Dr. Roy van der Meel (Assistant Professor, Eindhoven University of Technology) for coordinating the ECSC of our Local Chapter.

Thanks to Dr. Mohamad Tarhini (Postdoc at University of Lyon, France) and Harita Yedavally (PhD at Groningen University, the Netherlands) for contributing their skills in graphic design to the Local Chapter and creating visual materials.

Thanks to Annalisa Rosso (PhD at Lyon University, France) who is taking the minutes and archiving discussions within the ECSC.

Thanks to Elia Bozzato (PhD at UCLouvain, Belgium) and Dr. Valentina Francia (Postdoc at University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands; University of British Columbia, Canada) for spreading the word about the events and activities of our Local Chapter on Social Media.

Thanks to Hector Garcia Romeu (PhD at Groningen University, the Netherlands), Aldy Aliyandi (PhD at Groningen University, the Netherlands) and Keni Yang (PhD at Groningen University, the Netherlands) for processing our new members.

Funding and sponsorships received in 2019

We are glad to note that our Local Chapter received its first financial contributions from the Netherlands Society for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering (NBTE), Precision Nanosystems, Elsevier and CRS.

We acknowledge Dr. Jayeeta Sengupta (Entrepreneur, HighTechXL Eindhoven, the Netherlands) and Dr. Jos Paulusse (Assistant Professor at Twente University, the Netherlands) for arranging the sponsorships.

Thanks to Dr. Koen van der Maaden (Postdoc at Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands) for managing our bank account, invoices and finances.

Winter’s Board Meeting 2019 in Lyon, France

On December 13th during Winter’s Board Meeting in Lyon, France academic, industrial and early career scientists met to share scientific insights into their projects and challenges in drug development. New bylaws of the Local Chapter and reorganization of the structure of the Board in April 2020 were proposed.

We thank Dr. Giovanna Lollo for hosting the meeting at ISPB-Faculté de Pharmacie, Université Claude Bernard Lyon. We thank the Board Members, industrial partners and guests for attending and to their contribution to the meeting.

The Board Members: Natalia Vtyurina, Jai Prakash, Koen Raemdonck, Rene Van Nostrum, Tina Vermonden, Ana Beloqui, Anne des Rieux, Giovanna Lollo.

Industrial representatives: Ajay Johni, Richard Broadhead, Dunja Sobot, Sharanya Sakar, Jacques Volckmann, Vincent Jannin.

Early Career Scientists: Annalisa Rosso, Mohamad Tarhini, Valentina Andretto, Alvja Mali, Camille Dumont. Guest attendees: Klaas Poelstra, Eyad Almouazen, David Kryza, Thomas Briot.

We sincerely acknowledge Precision NanoSystems for sponsoring this meeting.

Conclusions: future plans and perspectives in 2020

For the first time, our members will have the opportunity to meet each other during the 1st Satellite Meeting that will be held on 7th of April 2020 in Egmond aan Zee, the Netherlands. Reorganization of the Local Chapter into several committees and introduction of the bylaws will take place next day during the Spring’s Board Meeting on 8th of April 2020.

To facilitate further remote scientific knowledge exchange and create more opportunities for industrial and academic experts to discuss the challenges in drug development, our Local Chapter is planning to organize more webinars in 2020.  

This year Local Chapter will continue seeking for collaborations with the other CRS Local Chapters and with industrial and academic partners that can support and secure potential career opportunities for our early career scientists. These partners can further help in already established activities within the Local Chapter as well as initiate establishment of the Summer School and Mobility-Exchange program. The call for the second round of the Mentorship Program is panned in the middle of 2020.

CRS BNLF Local Chapter 
E-mail: bnlf.crs@gmail.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/bnlf-crs
Twitter: twitter.com/CRSBeNeLuxFr
Website: https://bnlf-crs.org/
Phone number: +31 (0) 64 189 09 41

 

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