Top Sector LSH welcomes three new members to their evaluation committee

Due to the growing LSH sector and better familiarity with the PPP Allowance Regulation, the financial potential of the PPP Allowance has increased exponentially: from €4 million in 2013 to over €30 million in 2016. This development requires a professional and transparent evaluation of all PPP Allowance applications. Therefore, the executive office of the Top Sector LSH has appointed a (partially external) evaluation committee that will assess the, often very specific, applications for the PPP Allowance. The evaluation committee will advise the Board of the Top Sector LSH about the granting or rejection of applications. If necessary, the evaluation committee will seek comments of established international experts for their advice. The final funding decision resides with the board.

The evaluation committee of the Top Sector LSH consists of the following members:

• Edvard Beem, PhD (Chairman) – Former Director of ZonMw
  Expertise: medical chemistry and research funding
• Jolande Zijlstra, MSc (Secretary) – Innovation Coordinator Health~Holland
• Prof. Eco de Geus – Professor Biological Psychology VU University Amsterdam
  Expertise: psychophysiology and genetic epidemiology
  
• Sigi Neerken, PhD – Director Account Manager at Philips Group Innovation and Philips Research
  Expertise: oncology and business development
• Prof. Nico van Meeteren – Executive Director of Health~Holland
• Laila El Aziz, MSc – Programme Manager Health~Holland
  
  

The three new members have a positive outlook on the power of public-private partnerships. According to chairman Beem, the Top Sector policy is in principle an economic policy that aims to stimulate the knowledge base of entrepreneurial activity in the Netherlands, bringing research (mostly public) and development (mostly private) closer together. “If the Dutch LSH sector is able to bridge the gap between health research and development by designing substantial R&D programmes or agendas in which academic and entrepreneurial partners co-create and co-invest with co-respect, then it will be successful. Considering this mission both ZonMw and Top Sector LSH have a task in this endeavour at both a strategic and executive level.”

De Geus adds: “Increasing the collaboration between the private and public sector can pair scientific knowledge with technological evolution to create societal benefit and economic value. It is my hope that my expertise will contribute to the scientific rigour of the projects funded by the LSH sector.”

The evaluation committee will jointly work on science-based and value-based healthcare solutions. Neerken: “In the transition towards value-based healthcare I believe that strong collaborations between academia and industry can have a considerable impact on realising innovations end-to-end for the benefit of patients, care givers and society. I am inspired by the enormous potential of the proposed projects and I hope to contribute to good advice for the further selection of projects with a high potential impact.”

The Top Sector is most honoured to welcome these three new members of the evaluation committee.