News
On October 14, 2017, our inspiring vice-chairman passed away
In Memoriam Prof. Dr. Jan Raaijmakers
His unique drive and commitment to public-private collaboration in the life sciences & health sector has given an enormous boost to innovation in the sector.
Jan was actively involved in both our legacy organizations, the Center for Translational Molecular Medicine (CTMM) and Top Institute Pharma (TI Pharma) – at the start, facilitating the involvement of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in both organizations. In 2015 he also became figurehead for the Dutch topsector Life Sciences & Health. Jan was a Board member at TI Pharma since 2009, and its acting chairman at the time of the merger with CTMM in 2014. To facilitate the merger, he stepped down to become vice-chair of the Lygature foundation.
Jan took every opportunity to promote public-private partnership with one goal in mind: realizing new therapeutic solutions for patients, both for Western and poverty related diseases. He was a strong proponent of cross-disciplinary collaboration with a hands-on mentality – ‘take the initiative and start moving’.
We are very grateful for the many years Jan committed to Lygature, its predecessors CTMM and TI Pharma, and the life sciences & health sector as a whole. We have lost an important leader who was able to bring together many different players. Jan will continue to be an inspiration to us all. We all miss him dearly.
We wish his wife Rian, his children, and his extended family the strength to cope with this loss.
On behalf of the Lygature team
Jorg Janssen
Peter Luijten
Ton Rijnders
On behalf of the board of the Lygature foundation
Joop Sistermans, chairman
Prof. Dr. Jan Raaijmakers