International expertise returns to Belgium
VIB and Flemish Minister of Economy and Innovation, Hilde Crevits, announce the appointment of Dr Christine Durinx as VIB's co-managing director, alongside Dr Jérôme Van Biervliet. Dr Jo Bury, co-founder and co-managing director since VIB's inception 25 years ago, is passing the torch to Durinx who is the former Executive Director of the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics.
Durinx returns to her home country after many years abroad. As Joint Executive Director of the SIB Swiss Institute for Bioinformatics Durinx built the institutes current international prominence. Before her time at SIB, Durinx held a position as director in international medical communications at a global pharmaceutical company, also based in Switzerland.
Christine Durinx graduated with a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Antwerp in 2001. After her PhD, she was active as a medical advisor in several pharmaceutical companies in Belgium, before relocating to Switzerland. Throughout her career, she has been strongly involved in several science policy activities related to the long-term sustainability of research infrastructures on a local, European, and global level. Before joining VIB she was executive director of SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics.
VIB is an excellence-based entrepreneurial research institute in life sciences located in Flanders, Belgium. Since its foundation in 1996, VIB has created 30 start-up companies, now employing over 900 people.
