About Bi/ond Solutions
Bi/ond was founded to empower biological innovations through the use of engineered microchips
Bi/ond is where biology meets engineering : our intimate working relationship with biologists helped realize the supportive role engineering can play in generating reproducible and accurate biological models. This is how we built a bridge between biology and engineering – through the combination of our in-depth knowledge of microelectronics and experience with biological solutions.
Bi/ond is a biotechnology start up, established in 2017 as a spin off the prestigious Technical University of Delft (TU Delft). We provide tools to some of the top European hospitals and collaborate with a myriad of technical institutes and research centers to help them advance in their biotech research.
Every person is unique, and our medicines should reflect that as well. The Bi/ond team aims to make this reality of personalized medicine possible by developing a lab technology for more accurate drug testing and simulations of any tissue type.
Through the use of our technology, we also empower organizations with valid alternatives to the use of animals in testing. The possibilities of using tissue slices for culture, and develop 3d perfused models in our organ on chips contribute to the 3Rs guiding principles – replacement, reduction, refinement – of animal use, and a future where an animal free research is more achievable.
Meet our team
dr. Cinzia Silvestri
CEO and co-founder
“Progress is more than just innovation”
Cinzia has a doctorate in microelectronics and an entrepreneurial mindset.
She has over six years of experience in research focused on nanomaterials, silicon microfabrication and applications in biotechnology.
During her experience in academia, she realized that her mission is to shorten the distance between academics and industry.
Cinzia strongly believes that a new set of role models in science are needed, this is why she built up a diverse and multidisciplinary team to address the big challenges in the Organ-on-Chip field.
Her interest in making an impact led her to walk on a few stages, especially to show the importance of gender balance in STEM.
This approach brought her to be nominated as Inspiring 50 Italy for 2019.
Thanks to her vision, BI/OND has been included in the Fund Right Initiative both as women-lead company as well as diversity in the team.
dr. Nikolas Gaio
CTO and co-founder
“Pragmatically and realistically, a future without animal testing is possible”
Nikolas has a PhD in Microelectronics and a MSc in biomedical engineering. Together with the Bi/ond team, he is working to bridge the gap between microelectronics and biology.
He aims at demolishing the communication barriers between researchers in these two fields, by supporting their research, not only with lab tools, but also with experienced advice.
Nikolas is currently in charge of several pilot projects and is providing each group with tailored services to unlock the potential of their research.
Thanks to his passion to reduce and replace animals in drug testing, Bi/ond is included in the Animal-Free Innovations list 2019, an initiative defined by the Dutch TPI Initiative (Transition Program for Innovation without the use of animals).
Ewoud ouwerkerk
Advisor of the Board
As Bi/ond is growing rapidly, we are happy to be partnering with Ewoud Ouwerkerk, Commercial Director of Twist Bioscience. The potential of our technology meets the successful experience of Ewoud in supporting innovative biotech companies. He will work closely with the leadership and sales team as Bi/ond continues to expand its business throughout Europe.
“Ewoud is an unique leader who has a track record of exceptional commercial strategy and execution”, says Cinzia Silvestri, co-founder and CEO of Bi/ond. “His phenomenal success at Twist Bioscience illustrates his ability to support the building of an organization. We look forward to Ewouds’ guidance as we advance with bringing our products to the market in support of our mission to develop inclusive and precise cures for all by engineering microchips that mimic organs in a human body. This collaboration with Ewoud will boost the adoption of microphysiological system solutions and unlock the full potential of Bi/ond on the market.”
Ewoud Ouwerkerk is currently the general manager EMEA at Element Biosciences, a multi-disciplinary startup focused on innovating genetic analysis tools for the research and diagnostic markets. He will help them to initially establish a footprint in the US while Element explores expansion into Europe. He also has served as Twist Bioscience’s Commercial Director EMEA, a leading synthetic biology and genomics company. He joined Twist just prior to the launch of its synbio product line and subsequently supported the introduction of the next-generation sequencing (NGS) portfolio. Before joining Twist Bioscience, during the past 20 years, he held positions of increasing commercial focus. Ewoud holds a degree in biochemistry and one in business administration.
Mitchell Han
Senior Scientist
“Only together we can tackle the biggest challenges in bringing scientific progress to society”
Mitchell has a PhD in Cell Biology and has more than 4 years of Postdoctoral research experience in cell-biomaterials interactions. He is motivated to making complex physiologically relevant cell models more accessible with the Bi/ond team.
With his expertise in cellular characterization, he aims to further develop complex cell models that better mimic tissues of the human body, which will reduce the need for animal testing and paves the way for personalized medicine.
Mitchell strongly believes that a multidisciplinary approach is needed to take the Organ-On-Chip platform to the next level.
His experience working at the interface of biology with material science, engineering, and biophysics, certainly make him a perfect fit to contribute to this goal.
Marieke Aarts
Principal Scientist
Marieke has always been fascinated by the enormous potential of stem cells, particularly how they can be manipulated to turn into the many different cell types that make up the human body.
She has a PhD in Molecular Biology, during which she worked on a method to change the genetic code of embryonic stem cells. Her interest in stem cells was further carried over to her postdoctoral research in London, where she gained more experience in high-throughput screening to identify new cancer therapies and improve stem cell reprogramming. These skills she later used in industry, setting up cell-based assays for target discovery and implementing new technologies to innovate research pipelines.
She joined Bi/ond because she believes organ-on-chips have the potential to better mimic human disease and can make a difference in bringing new therapies to patients.
“The Bi/ond team brings together experts from different fields making it an exciting and fun place to work. Together we can build better models for human disease and help bring new cures to patients.”
Curtis Nicholson
Sales Lead - Europe
Curtis has an MSc in Immunology gathering solid work experience with various advanced platforms for multiplex biomarker analysis, analyzing protein interactions, and, cellular characterization. He has been working in sales for the past nineteen years, focusing his last years in the field of functional proteomics. He is ready to bring his knowledge and broad skillset to Bi/ond, introducing our disruptive technology to the market, strengthening our network, and establishing long-standing partnerships.
The opportunity to work at Bi/ond gives him the chance to evaluate the existing market to assess areas for improvement and the current areas in which the application of OOC technology remains unexplored. Moreover, he will guide the sales and marketing team to spotlight and bring awareness to the real advantages Bi/ond’s technology offers over conventional techniques and the competitive landscape, developing a platform that enables a true representation of systemic biology that can be used for effective disease modeling and drug development programs and ultimately establishing Bi/ond as the preferred platform recognized by regulatory agencies for OOC application in drug development.
Zuriñe Garcia Martin
Marketing Lead
“Working for Bi/ond is an opportunity to dwell into a very interesting field, with real impact into our society. I am happy to be part of the team helping develop personalized medicines for individualized needs, with important objectives in mind such as health care improvement and reduction of testing on animals”
Zuriñe is Spanish, but has lived and worked in the Netherlands for the last nearly 20 years. Here is where she obtained her MBA, which she holds next to a bachelor in Advertising and PR. Zuriñe has worked both in Spain and in the Netherlands in advertising agencies, consultancy companies, and B2B organizations of different industries and sizes. She is a very versatile person, passionate about supporting sales growth, spreading the word about company offerings, and helping them professionalize.
Zuriñe brings to Bi/ond a mix of Marketing and Communications skills and B2B expertise from both large international companies, and smaller scale start/scale ups, with insights into the pharmaceutical industry. She is very eager to dive into the field of Organ-on-Chips which we are excited about!
Durotimi Dina
Senior Field Application Specialist
To design better, more effective therapies for patients, we need more physiologically relevant data. Durotimi is passionate about scientific innovation and translating bench-side discoveries into real world applications that improve the health and wellbeing of patients. After completing his PhD in Bioengineering, where he developed a novel genetically modified human skin model and being eager to contribute further to the field, Durotimi joined Bi/ond a company he considers at the forefront of microelectronics and tissue engineering. Durotimi brings both scientific and commercial experience in tissue engineering. He has worked from the lab and customer-facing roles supporting start-ups and major pharmaceutical companies in the tech transfer and adoption of new technologies to advance their research programs and managing international sales of innovative products.
Durotimi’s expertise and enthusiasm will certainly contribute to the continued growth and success of Bi/ond.
Phuong Ahn (PA) Nguyen
Financial Controller
“ I believe that collaboration, open communication, and a shared passion for excellence are the cornerstones of a successful team, and I’m committed to contributing my best to Bi/ond’s collective achievements”.
Phuong Agn (PA) takes care of the administration and financial reports for Bi/ond and makes sure that all financial information is kept up to date and is easy to understand for anyone needing to access it.
With a BSc. in Business Administration from Radboud University Nijmegen, PA is currently pursuing her MSc. in Accountancy & Control in University of Amsterdam. She brings to Bi/ond two years of expertise in the financial and accounting branch, acquired in retail and hospitality industry related businesses.
PA is excited to work alongside experts in multiple fields and from diverse cultural backgrounds, and gain expertise into administration of complex reporting requirements such as those of European funded projects.
Linda Groenendijk
Junior Scientist
“Great ideas set the bar and a great team pushes it beyond”
Linda’s interest in science was cultivated from a young age through reading biology books and taking apart small electronics. Her interest in vitro models for drug screening and personalized medicine was piqued during her bachelor’s. Since then, she has worked on various different projects throughout her studies employing a variety of techniques such as bioprinting, stem cell differentiation, and disease modeling using organ-on-a-chip devices.
With all that experience under her belt, Linda is excited to bring her combined knowledge in material science and cell biology to the Bi/ond team.
Linda has a Master’s degree in biomedical sciences and a background in cell biology and biofabrication. She aims at pushing the limits of in vitro modeling and is determined to produce more relevant systems to improve disease modeling to provide more effective pharmaceutical treatments. With her background in material science and biology, she is adamant about bringing the field of organ-on-chip to the forefront of research.
At Bi/ond, she is delighted to be working with a multidisciplinary team and to collaborate with experts in various fields. With curiosity driving her passions, she enjoys sharing her knowledge in biology while learning more about microfabrication and mechanical engineering.
Anish Ballal
Mechanical Engineer
“Innovation is my passion and engineering is my profession”
Anish Ballal holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Twente, Enschede. He is passionate about designing innovative and feasible solutions and validating them to meet the customer based requirements.
He brings in 2 years of experience and expertise with mechanical design and testing for high tech consumer and biomedical based solutions.
Anish believes in cultivating relationships with stakeholders and motivating colleagues to implement complex solutions.
Following his motivation in working towards bridging down research and science based ideas into engineering solutions, Anish joined BI/OND in 2020 to support the development of a platform for accurate and effective drug based testing solution for patients.
Tawab Karim
Junior Process Engineer
“Science is the tool for modern day evolution of mankind”
Tawab is a recent graduate, but with his expertise in microfabrication and biology, he aims to further develop the Bi/ond organ-on-chip platform.
He kicked off his career as a Junior Mechanical Engineer focusing his efforts and tasks on the healthcare environment, a field dear to him and where he could see solid growth. He began to work on super-resolution microscopes which enabled the use of light microscopy down to single nanometers.
From the academic and research world, Tawab decided to shift towards the industry field working along with ambitious startups with a revolutionary mission. After a short experience as Algorithm Engineer, he focused his professional ambitions on a field he was actively studying and he could put his acquired skills into practice: microelectronics.
Working at Bi/ond represents for him a unique opportunity to combine healthcare and micro-fabrication, working within a young and ambitious research team supported by a great commercial drive. His ambition is to help establish the technology of Bi/ond products and bring the power of our micro engineered devices at the services of R&D pharma and strike a difference in modern medicines.
Lucas Dal Ponte Feliciano
Electronics System Engineer
Lucas has an MSc in mechatronics, working with the development of innovative products for the past 6 years. Only in the last year, he has worked on developing implantable sensors and never looked back!
The opportunity to work at Bi/ond gives him the chance to develop the best electronics data acquisition and control systems for stimulating and monitoring cells for our product ecosystem. With his personal experience with the developments of data acquisition systems and a methodology that integrates the progress of electro-medical devices, his mission is to improve our time to market while providing high-quality products to our end users.
dr. William F. G. Solano
Co-founder
“Science is the most powerful tool to overcome our customers’ challenges”
William is one of the founders and inventor of Bi/ond. He also holds a position as Adjunct Professor at Costa Rica University; he supports universities and research centers gathering data while publishing results obtained with the Bi/ond device.
With seven years of experience in micro-fabrication and microfluidics, William is in charge of working with customers to find optimal parameters to obtain the best physiologically relevant environment for their cells.
His passion for data and science makes him the right person to supervise the characterization and testing of devices, and he will do everything to deliver a reliable product.
