Annemarie Willems

Name, position and organisation

Annemarie Willems, CCO, Prolira BV (a young company based at UtrechtInc in the H.R. Kruyt building).

What does Utrecht Science Park mean to you?

It’s a nice and convenient place to work. Prolira has its office at UtrechtInc, which is an inspiring, pleasant and stimulating environment for start-ups.
We manufacture and sell a new medical device – the DeltaScan – which allows delirium to be detected among patients in a hospital setting more easily and at an earlier stage. This is based on research conducted at University Medical Center (UMC) Utrecht. We work very closely with the ‘brain at risk’ research team of Professor Slooter (a globally recognised delirium expert and neurointensivist at UMC Utrecht), so it’s very practical for us to be within walking distance of the hospital.

What is the impact of Utrecht Science Park on society and what is your role in it?

The main focus at Utrecht Science Park is on teaching. However, pioneering research is also being conducted and its results are being used in new products and services, creating new commercial activity. Start-ups not only create new jobs and economic progress, but also contribute to a sustainable world. Innovative start-ups exploit the areas that established businesses avoid. Starting entrepreneurs take risks and are flexible. This makes them better at developing new concepts and implementing them into new technologies. We founded Prolira in order to transform groundbreaking medical research results into a practical instrument for health care workers, allowing patients to be treated earlier and better and hospitals to save costs. These groundbreaking research results revealed that electroencephalography (EEG) can be used as a non-invasive method to measure brain activity, so that in just one minute and using only three electrodes, a distinction can be made between delirium and no delirium.

Delirium is acute brain failure. The longer it lasts, the higher the risk of death and long-term cognitive damage (dementia) and the longer patients will be in hospital, with the resulting higher costs. The majority of cases are currently being missed, as there are only subjective checklists available to track them down. By contrast, we’re introducing an objective instrument that helps to detect almost all cases: DeltaScan is, as it were, a ‘thermometer for the brain’. It really feels like a bonus to be able to operate in this positive, constructive ecosystem among highly trained individuals with a positive attitude.

What is your personal dream with regard to your role? What would you like to achieve in the next five or ten years?

My dream is that in five years’ time, our DeltaScans will be used on a daily basis in all Dutch hospitals, as well as in many German, English and American ones. This would mean that our company has succeeded in its aim. More importantly, it would mean that delirium care has really improved, benefiting patients, hospitals and society.
As one of the founders of Prolira, I personally hope to have more free time and maybe start another company, but working part-time.

More stories

More stories

Read more

Robin Lechner

Mayor Sharon Dijksma

Dr. Karin de Winter-de Groot