Our Amazing Team Meet The Crew
We are very proud to work with this fantastic group of people.
Giel Hendriks
Chief Executive Officer
Paula van Rossum
Chief Business Officer
Remco Derr
Chief Operating Officer
Giel Hendriks
Chief Executive Officer
Giel Hendriks has a PhD in molecular biology from Utrecht University and worked for four years as a post-doctoral fellow in at Leiden University, studying the relationship between DNA damage and gene mutations. After this fundamental scientific projects he made a switch and worked for six years a senior scientist at the Leiden University Medical Center on the development of in vitro reporter systems to detect and understand the mechanisms of genotoxicity. During this period, he has been instrumental in the development of the ToxTracker assay.
In 2014, Giel obtained pre-seed financing from NGI to start Toxys and to bring the ToxTracker assay to the market. As the CEO of Toxys, he worked to develop the company into an internationally recognised contract research organisation (CRO) in genetic toxicology and chemical safety testing for the pharmaceutical, cosmetics and chemical industry.
After winning the HollandBio BioBusiness Masterclass in 2015, in the beginning of 2016 he secured Seed financing from InnovationQuarter and the Zeeland Investment Fund to establish a new Toxys laboratory, further grow the company and continue the development of innovative in vitro cell assays for mechanistic toxicity screening.
Paula van Rossum
Chief Business Officer
Paula van Rossum joined Toxys in 2016 and is the Chief Business Officer. Paula is a driven professional with a track record in BD & Sales. She was Chief Business Officer for OcellO, a spin-off company from Leiden University where she was involved in the business development and business management. Previously she was project manager Life Sciences at the Utrecht Science Park where she was involved in the promotion and acquisition and Liaison Officer for the LACDR (Leiden University). Paula studied biomedical sciences and graduated in both the Research and Business track.
Remco Derr
Chief Operating Officer
Remco Derr joined Toxys in 2014 and is Chief Operating Officer. He studied biomedical sciences at the university of Ghent (Bachelor) and university of Leiden (Master). During his master he did a research internship at the department of Toxicogenetics in the Leiden University where he studied DNA damage mechanisms. He joined Toxys in 2014 and has been on board since the beginning. Within toxys he oversees the performance of the fee-for-service screening and helps to develop novel applications of the ToxTracker assay.
Marlon Dijkshoorn
Chief Financial Officer
Inger Brandsma
Study Director
Amer Jamalpoor
Scientific Director
Bas ter Braak
Study Director
Marlon Dijkshoorn
Chief Financial Officer
Having more than 25 years of experience in financial management from large enterprises to venture funds and small technology companies, Marlon acts as part time CFO for Toxys. From 1999 to 2004 Marlon was CFO for Life Science Partners assisting in the establishment of Funds I and II. During 2005 Marlon established Finmar B.V. a boutique financial advisory and management service for SMEs in the health and medical sectors. Marlon provides financial planning, tax and strategic support for SMEs in the early phases. Having experience of sitting on both sides of the risk capital table Marlon provides critical support in raising capital investments and delivering timely and high quality information to both management and shareholders. Marlon holds a degree in Business Economy from the Erasmus University.
Inger Brandsma
Study Director
Inger Brandsma obtained her PhD from the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, where she studied the role of changes in DNA double strand break repair in cancer cells relating to resistance to PARP inhibitors. After completing her PhD, she worked as a postdoc at the Institute of Cancer Research in London for two years, continuing her work on mechanisms of PARP inhibitor resistance. In 2018, Inger joined Toxys as a senior scientist, utilising her expertise in DNA damage responses, genome stability and cancer to develop novel mechanistic toxicity assays.
Amer Jamalpoor
Scientific Director
Amer Jamalpoor obtained his Master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences (Human Toxicology specialisation) from Radboud University in Nijmegen. During his study, he evaluated clinically relevant drug-drug interactions and drug toxicity in human cells and animal models. During his Ph.D. at Utrecht University, he developed and modelled human kidney proximal tubule cells and kidney organoids by combining CRISPR-Cas9 and omics technologies to identify and test toxicity profiles of potential therapeutic agents for monogenic kidney disorders. In November 2020, Amer joined Toxys as a lead scientist, utilising his expertise to further develop and commercialise ReproTracker and additional in vitro assays for developmental toxicology.
Bas ter Braak
Study Director
Bas holds a Master’s degree in Biotechnology from the Wageningen University. After completing his PhD at the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR), he was a postdoctoral researcher at Leiden University. Together with a small team of PhD students, he generated CRISPR/Cas9 mediated fluorophore knock-ins in human induced pluripotent stem cells to study compound-induced stress signalling processes in differentiated reporter cell lineages. He also co-developed the HepG2 BAC-GFP reporter platform. Bas joined Toxys in 2020 as a senior scientist to commercialize the HepG2 BAC-GFP reporter platform.
Marit Hoogenboom
Scientist
Sabine Hartvelt
Study Director
Luke Flatt
Senior Scientist
Tom Zwetsloot
Associate Scientist
Marit Hoogenboom
Scientist
Marit obtained her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences from the Leiden University. She did her PhD at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam where she focussed on DNA damage and the transcription stress response. Marit joined Toxys in 2020, where she will use her expertise to further develop novel toxicity assays.
Sabine Hartvelt
Study Director
Luke Flatt
Senior Scientist
Tom Zwetsloot
Associate Scientist
Tom holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Leiden University of Applied Science in Biology and biomedical sciences. After his graduation, Tom held the position of Research Technician at the Leiden University Medical Center, department of anatomy and embryology. In his role as research technician he worked on stem cell differentiation. Tom joined Toxys in 2017 where he will apply his experience in stem cell research to the development of ReproTracker.
Gaonan Zhang
Associate Scientist
Nynke Moelijker
Associate Scientist
Marleen Feliksik
Associate Scientist
Liesanne Wolters
Associate Scientist
Gaonan Zhang
Associate Scientist
Gaonan obtained her first BSc in Agriculture from Shenyang Agriculture University and her second BSc in Life Science from HAN University of Applied Sciences. She performed her internships at the departments of Dermatology and Human Genetics at Radboud UMC in Nijmegen. Before joining Toxys in 2020, Gaonan worked as a DNA sequencing technician. At Toxys, Gaonan is performing ReproTracker, ToxTracker and other mechanistic toxicity assays for our sponsors.
Nynke Moelijker
Associate Scientist
Nynke holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Amsterdam University College and a Master’s in Applied Biotechnology from the University of Uppsala. Before joining Toxys in 2017, Nynke worked as a Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellow at the University of Zurich where she studied the impact of exercise on red blood cell properties. At Toxys, Nynke is performing ToxTracker and other mechanistic toxicity assays for our sponsors.
Marleen Feliksik
Associate Scientist
Marleen obtained her Bachelor’s degree from the Leiden University of Applied Science in Biology and Medical Laboratory Research. Before joining Toxys, she worked at Leiden University as a technician, where she performed research on development of in vitro models for mammalian embryogenesis. Marleen joined Toxys in 2021 and she will be applying her knowledge on stem cells and cell culture to the ReproTracker assays.
Liesanne Wolters
Associate Scientist
Marije Meijer
Assistant Scientist
Kim Elbertse
Assistant Scientist
Eva de Tombe
Assistant Scientist
Esther Lam
Study Investigator
Marije Meijer
Assistant Scientist
Marije obtained her Bachelors of Life Science at the University of Applied Sciences Leiden. Previously, she worked at the OIE Reference Laboratory for Leptospirosis (also known as Expertise Centre for Leptospirosis) as a technician. In 2022, Marije joined Toxys where she has been performing ToxTracker and other mechanistic toxicity assays for our sponsors.
Kim Elbertse
Assistant Scientist
Kim obtained her Bachelors and Masters degree in Biopharmaceutical Sciences at Leiden University. During her internship she worked on the development of TCR T-cells for adoptive T-cell therapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma at the Erasmus Medical Center. Kim joined Toxys in 2022 as a technician, where she performs the ToxProfiler assay.
Eva de Tombe
Assistant Scientist
Eva obtained her Bachelors and Masters degree in Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences (Drug Discovery and Safety specialization) at Leiden University. During her thesis internship, she investigated the mechanism of bile salt induced apoptosis in cystic fibrosis with mouse cholangiocyte organoids at the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam. During an earlier internship, she worked on the development of multicolor HepG2 BAC reporter cell lines at the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR). In January 2023, Eva joined Toxys as an assistant scientist performing the ToxTracker assay as well as other cell-based toxicity tests.
Esther Lam
Study Investigator
Esther joined Toxys in 2023 and is a Study investigator for the Reprotracker assay. She studied Biology and medical laboratory sciences at Hogeschool Rotterdam. After her graduation, Esther held the position of Research Technician at the Leiden University Medical Center, department of anatomy and embryology and after that she worked at Janssen Viral Vaccines.
Connor Philippo
Assistant Scientist
Marianne Brummelkamp
Office Manager
Pereni K
Marketing Manager
Connor Philippo
Assistant Scientist
Marianne Brummelkamp
Office Manager
Pereni K
Marketing Manager
Pereni obtained her Bachelors in Life Sciences with a minor in Communication and New Media at the National University of Singapore. She found her passion for marketing in the biomedical industry throughout her internships and her Masters in Biomedical Science Management at Leiden University. She uses her creativity and scientific knowledge to help highlight the products and expertise of Toxys.
Toxys Inc.
Dan Roberts
Director BD & Sales
Dan Roberts
Director BD & Sales
Dan Roberts has a MS from John’s Hopkins University and nearly 20 years experience in applied genotoxicity testing. He joined Toxys in 2022 and is stationed in the USA to help enhance customer support and business development in North America. Prior to joining the team, he has worked across various industrial sectors including contract research organizations, biotech companies, and the pharmaceutical sector. Dan remains actively engaged in scientific organizations (GTA, EMGS) and participates in expert working groups within the field of genetic toxicology (IWGT, GTTC).
Our sales consultants provide us with their expertise and business development support.
Hanna Frykman
Director BD & Sales
Ruairí Mac Síomóin
Japan liaison
Hanna Frykman
Director BD & Sales
Hanna works for Toxys since 2020 as Independent Consultant in Business Development and Sales. She has vast experienced in sales, marketing and business development demonstrated in a history of working in the life science and start-up industry on national and international arena. Previously Hanna worked at the Swedish life science company SenzaGen where she was building up marketing, communication and sales from start-up through an IPO.
Hanna has done her Master studies at Lund University in Physical Geography and minor in General Business Studies, she did her Sales education in Dublin and followed up with Strategic Marketing education at IHM Business School in Sweden.
Ruairí Mac Síomóin
Japan liaison
Based in Japan, Ruairí is our primary point of contact for Toxys’s Japanese customers and interested parties. With over 25 years’ experience in the pharma / life sciences field, Ruairí provides a strong connection to the Japanese market, allowing Toxys to expand its reach in Asia. Ruairí received his M.Sc. from the Institute of Medical Science of the University of Tokyo and his B.Sc. from the Moyne Institute of Preventative Medicine at Trinity College, Ireland. Ruairi has previously worked at Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. in Tokyo and Amersham Biosciences Japan (now GE Healthcare). His academic and industry research experience has been in the infectious disease and oncology areas.
