Newsletter May 2024

Record number of 13,000 athletes at Utrecht Science Park at Utrecht Marathon and Giro d'Utrecht

On Sunday 19 May, Utrecht was all about sports. Two wonderful sports events, the Utrecht Marathon and the Giro d'Utrecht, had the Utrecht Science Park as their start and finish location. 13,000 runners and cyclists took part in one of these events.

It is great to see a large number of athletes showing their sporty side at the Utrecht Science Park. It was a great day!

From Friday 27 September to Sunday 6 October the fourth edition of Utrecht Science Week will take place and the Utrecht Science Park will open its doors wide for everyone interested in (applied) science. In close cooperation with various partners located in the Utrecht Science Park, a varied and relevant programme. Events such as the Betweter Festival, Dag van de Duurzaamheid and Weekend van de Wetenschap are also part of this programme.

In the coming period there will be a significantly upgrade of the stops on the Vaartsche Rijn - Utrecht Science Park route. This should better fulfil the wishes and needs of travellers. The first three stops, UMC Utrecht, Heidelberglaan and Padualaan, will be completed at the beginning of the coming academic year. The other stops will be renovated later. From 24 May, the UMC Utrecht stop will be the first to be renovated

The Utrecht Science Park Foundation asked a group of junior advisers from Scompany, the student consultancy agency of HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, to do research on the brand awareness and identity of the Utrecht Science Park. To investigate this, the advisers created a survey for both users of the Utrecht Science Park, and residents of the province of Utrecht. Take part in the research and fill in the survey.

Jaap van Dissel has bid farewell to the RIVM after 11 years of service as director of the Centre for Infectious Disease Control due to his retirement. During a symposium in honour of his retirement, RIVM Director-General Hans Brug and demissionary Prime Minister Mark Rutte presented him with the Jenner medal and a national award, respectively.

Fatty liver disease is a condition that leads to an accumulation of fat cells in the liver. The disease can have many causes and it is a risk factor for liver cancer. Delilah Hendriks, Organoid group researcher, group leader at the Princess Máxima Center and Oncode researcher, will work with researchers at the Máxima Centre, UMC Utrecht and Avans to investigate how fatty liver disease deposits can lead to liver cancer.

The 17 million euros EU-funded ONTOX project which aims to provide a cutting-edge, animal-free method for testing chemicals launched its own hackathon. The event was held from 21 to 23 April 2024 at the Utrecht Science Park. Scientists, industry leaders, young researchers, animal welfare organisations and academics participated in the unique ONTOX hackathon initiative.

Of every five patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with a severe pneumonia caused by influenza, one will not survive. Researchers wonder whether drugs previously successful in treating ICU patients with severe COVID-19 are also effective in ICU patients with severe pneumonia due to influenza. ZonMw has provided a grant of 2.1 million euros for this study.

On Monday 22 April, the Utrecht Science Park Café took place at the Prinses Máxima Center. Visitors were taken through the developments and growth of the Máxima. They were also told about how various data technologies are used in operations, such as DNA sequencing during brain surgery and the intra-operative MRI-OK at the Wilhelmina Children's Hospital and the UMC Utrecht.

In Hungary, 200 soldiers were supposedly injured. Thirty of them were taken via Eindhoven airport to the Calamity Hospital at UMC Utrecht this week for treatment. This is how Vigorous Warrior started, for the Calamity Hospital, a collaboration between the Ministry of Defence, UMC Utrecht and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports.

On Tuesday 14 May, over 25 life sciences entrepreneurs from the Utrecht region met early in the morning at the Accelerator at the Utrecht Science Park. After breakfast, Lex Bakker of Merus gave the first inspirational talk about his long career in the biotech world. Are you a life sciences entrepreneur in the Utrecht region? Then come to the next breakfast on 27 August.

Scientists have expanded their cutting-edge cell imaging tool to visualize how CAR-T and other immunotherapies work in liquid tumors – such as the blood cancer, leukemia – in real time. By visualizing how cell therapies behave and interact with cancer cells, the scientists aim to better understand and improve how these promising new forms of immunotherapy work.

In collaboration with hollandbio, we organised a networking event at the Accelerator at the Utrecht Science Park on Thursday 25 April. This was the first of a series of networking events hollandbio is organising across the country this year because of its 10-year anniversary. More than 100 professionals gathered with the aim of strengthening the biotech ecosystem on a regional and (inter)national level.

On Wednesday, April 24th, the Indian Secretary of Health Apurva Chandra visited Bilthoven Biologicals. During his visit he talked to CEO Mr. Jurgen Kwik and the CEO of Poonawalla Science Park (PSP) in Bilthoven, Mr. Jef De Clercq. The focus of this meeting was on the EU partnership for pandemic preparedness and vaccine production cooperation.

Water can be purified using mushroom substrate: the mixture of fungal filaments and horse manure that remains after harvesting mushrooms. Utrecht University researchers Brigit van Brenk, Han Wösten, and colleagues demonstrate this in a paper. The substrate effectively decreases concentrations of pesticides and drugs in contaminated water. It is a promising alternative to current water purification methods.