AIMMS Valorization Festival 2027

Sandra is an assistant professor in Breakthrough Technology Innovation at VU Amsterdam, where she studies how R&D and emerging technologies scale into real, sustainable impact. With a double PhD from Lisbon and Amsterdam, over a decade of research spanning four continents, and a track record of turning academic breakthroughs into industry partnerships, she’s spent her career doing exactly what this festival is built for: connecting science to the market it needs to live in.

Rik is one of the world’s leading authorities on extreme customer-centricity and building antifragile ecosystems — because, as he puts it, it’s all H2H (human to human) in the end. With 20+ years in C-level roles at global manufacturing companies and over a decade exploring how big data, AI, and robotisation are rewriting the rules, he’s spent his career at the intersection of the old normal and the new. He’s the bestselling author of Managers The Day After Tomorrow, creator of frameworks like the Ecosystem Canvas and the TREE formula, and has delivered over 1,000 keynotes to audiences in 40+ countries. At AIMMS Festival, he brings that ecosystem thinking to health: why connectivity, not the molecule alone, may be the real frontier.

Prof. Dr. Aletta Kraneveld is a Dutch immunopharmacologist and the Dean of the Faculty of Science at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU). Her internationally recognized research focuses on the gut-immune-brain axis, investigating how gut microbiota and mucosal immunity interact to influence neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson’s disease and autism. Through multi-disciplinary public-private platforms, she translates these biological insights into novel therapeutics and medical food concepts targeting immune and brain health.

Matthew is Co-Founder and CEO of Efforia, building the next generation of AI-driven clinical trial tools. He’s spent nearly two decades at the intersection of research and software: he founded and led ProofPilot, a platform for running randomized controlled trials online, for a decade, and before that ran strategy and software development for trial-based research at Cyclogram. He holds two MBAs in Marketing (University of Maine and McGill) and a BS in Marketing and International Business. At AIMMS Festival, he’ll dig into where AI is genuinely changing clinical trials — and where it still falls short.

Dr. Ir. Margrethe Jonkman is a Dutch food technologist, former corporate executive and the President of the Executive Board (voorzitter van het College van Bestuur) of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. A Wageningen University PhD graduate, she spent over 25 years at dairy cooperative FrieslandCampina – ultimately serving as Chief Technology Officer and Global Director of R&D – before transitioning into academic governance.

Prof. Dr. Mr. Paul Nederkoorn is a Dutch scientist, entrepreneur and professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU). In June 2024, he was appointed Professor by Special Appointment (bijzonder hoogleraar) of Valorization of Science and Technology at the VU Faculty of Science (Department of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences).

Godelieve van Heteren, MB/MD is an international (Planetary) health, governance and performance-based finance expert. She worked as University lecturer, researcher, Member of the Dutch Parliament, director of INGO Cordaid, director Global Health at Erasmus University and senior consultant for the WHO Health Systems Governance Collaborative. Over the last 20 years she has been active in a range of health and social systems transformation programs around the world, with engagements for governments through local funding, or programs supported by agencies like the Worldbank, USAID and the Global Fund.

Prof. Dr. Bas Teusink is a Dutch Professor of Systems Biology and Systems Bioinformatics at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He leads the Systems Bioinformatics group, combining computational modeling, network analysis and quantitative experiments to understand cellular metabolic networks and microbial physiology. His work bridges fundamental biological research with industrial applications, focusing on fermentation, bio-based solutions and microbiome dynamics.

Henrike Gootjes is a Dutch visual artist, educator, author and regenerative strategist. Working at the intersection of art, society and systemic change, her work explores how geopolitical and economic systems impact daily life. She lectures across various universities and academies and is the author of Regeneration, a book advocating for creative, life-affirming strategies to address ecological and social crises.

Dr. Sjoerd Kluiving is an Associate Professor in Geoarchaeology and Anthropocene Sciences at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. His interdisciplinary research bridges geology, physical geography, and archaeology to study how human civilizations and landscapes have shaped each other over time. He also co-founded VU Amsterdam’s Environmental Humanities Center and leads major EU landscape research projects.