Tag: CESPE Project Manager

Sarah Costers joined the CESPE team as project manager with expertise in discovery and development of biologics.

Sarah graduated as bioengineer cell and gene biotechnology and obtained a PhD in veterinary science in the field of virology/immunology, both at Ghent University. After 14 years of R&D in the biotech/pharma industry, she now returns to the alma mater/CESPE to facilitate and organize knowledge exchange and collaboration between industry and academia via strategic projects. She will attract additional funding for the equipment of the CESPE Innovation accelerator and incubator and provide support for the commercialization of the CESPE Innovation incubator.  

Mark Gontsarik joined CESPE as a Project Manager in 2024. He is responsible for the establishment of flagship projects & bilateral projects with industrial partners. In addition, he supports the further development of the CESPE Academy as well as the operational development. After obtaining his MSc in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Copenhagen University, he joined the EMPA Swiss Federal Laboratories for Material Science and Technology in St. Gallen, Switzerland, and graduated with a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2019. As a postdoctoral researcher, Mark worked at the Department of Chemistry in Fribourg University, Switzerland, and most recently at the Department of Pharmaceutics in University of Ghent, Belgium. Mark’s research focused on stimuli-responsive lipid nanoparticles for delivery of therapeutic peptides and RNA. His expertise ranges from chemical synthesis of lipid components of nanoparticles to their physico-chemical and biological characterization.