Original publishing date: Jan 24, 2023

Marianne is one of CUCo’s founding board members and left the board in 2022. In this interview she reflects on her time at CUCo and looks ahead at its future. Most importantly, we also learn what her favorite animal is…

Can you give a little bit of background on yourself?  
I am a senior group leader; I lead a laboratory in pediatric immunology and I train PhD students to become full-fledged researchers in biomedical sciences. In the laboratory, the goal is to prevent disease in individuals who are predisposed for autoimmune or metabolic disease, because it runs in the family or because they already have developed early features of disease (for diabetes for example). In the research we do, we complement our own expertise with approaches and equipment from different disciplines. But usually disciplines that are related, so life sciences for example, chemistry and biology. I usually do not move that far away from my own discipline – which is biology/immunology. 

How did you end up at CUCo?
I was part of the founding board because I was one of the chairs of the Young Academies (YA). I was the chair of the YA of UMC Utrecht. When the rectors and dean approached us to start this young academy alliance between the four institutes, we were all curious about the idea to work together to solve so-called wicked problems, which all started with the four chairs and co-chairs. So that’s how I got here. That was even before the name CUCo was coined. 

What is your dream for CUCo?
My dream, and what I anticipate, is that CUCo will really be a flywheel, a facilitator of solving important societal problems. It can be a FAIR Battery, it can also be the ‘Power of One’, and reaching the people that are not seen. Making sure that everyone gets to be a part of important decisions or gets a share in the progress we make as society, in improving healthcare for example. So I see it as something good for humankind and hopefully for the world. I think my ambitions are high. But it was the right time to start this. The world needs to change its business as usual! And we can be a part of that change!

When you stepped into CUCo what were you hoping to gain or learn from it? And what did you actually learn from it?
I guess, I was mostly curious. I want to learn from other people’s insights. And I was really intrigued by the other people on the board – so the chairs and co-chairs of the YA’s. They are smart people and you can learn that just by interacting with them. Then just having a goal, a problem, to work on together with this really talented team of people that was what I was hoping for! I was sure it would lead somewhere. Although we were not quite sure where yet… But there was this positive atmosphere, this positive hope of ‘let’s do things differently’ and it will work!

How did you experience working across the four different institutes across the alliance? Did you see big cultural differences?
Oh yeah! A medical centre is a rather hierarchical environment. In the TU/e is much less the case, which was refreshing to see. I found it very refreshing to see that some people from the Eindhoven University were willing to solve problems that we at the UMC-Utrecht did not know how to tackle. For example, the patient information sheets; these are densely-written flyers filled with complicated terms, but for patients. Here, these information sheets would not change any time soon. They are difficult for patients to read because they’re written by clinicians or PhD students, in rather difficult language/jargon. The risk is that the patients who read this have no clue what they are actually trying to tell them. While in Eindhoven they were like: ‘We can easily make that accessible and make it easier’. It was very nice to see that people were immediately willing to help. And also that when they see a problem that you do not know what to do with, that they can fix it, and provide a meaningful solution. And the UU as a broad university has lots of interesting smart people I would never have encountered otherwise, you would never see each other even though we are so close. And in Wageningen I knew some people there already so I knew that environment a bit. And that is very different again. So I think this is a great set of ‘complementary’ institutes to combine. 

What do you see as the added value of the unusual interdisciplinary aspect of CUCo? What do you feel is the added value of being unusual in a collaboration? 
I am not sure if unusual is a strong term on its own because it is vague! I like more defined terms better; the idea is that we should move away from business as usual if we wish to solve wicked problems. I do believe in mixing people around and making an effort to give people a task or solve a puzzle. All these YA members like puzzles and like to solve problems with a positive attitude. So mixing them around that already works! If it is unusual, sure! But creating meetings, facilitating people working on problems. That is what I believe we should be doing, and what CUCo is.  

Since we’re talking about interdisciplinarity, or being unusual. Would you consider yourself to be an unusual researcher?
I think I am. (pause) I work on 6 different diseases, so it is always a challenge for me to explain what I do. And I would not want to change my research approach, as comparing disease mechanisms (at the cellular level) makes clear what features are conserved, so you can borrow and learn from solutions (or successful treatments) for different diseases. It works! That is why people allow me to be unusual within my department as long as I work within the bigger strategy of the hospital. Because I bring in a lot of funding, my international network and enthusiasm, and I train a lot of people. So the UMC-Utrecht is a great place to be unusual for me within the medical field. That is also why I was drawn to the Young Academy and meeting new people, I am just very curious. 

Reflecting on your time at CUCo, is there anything that you still want to share still? 
Well I think from the beta sciences I got to appreciate the social sciences. I had no idea these people existed, how different their approach to research is – I simply never interacted – there is a high density of social sciences in CUCo.

Final question! What is your favorite animal?
I think the human! Ultimately all problems I work with are about humans and about improving human health and wellbeing. For me it is always about people interacting and making the right decisions.