Camilla de Naris

Name, position and organization

I'm Camilla de Nardis, I work at Merus, a biotech pharma company at Utrecht Science Park. I've been working there since 2017. I started there as a scientific writer in the Research & Development department. In January 2020, I was promoted to Communication & Sustainability manager. So I have done a switch quite recently in my career.

Before that actually, I was already at Utrecht Science Park where I've done my PhD in biochemistry and more specifically structural biology. Which I started in 2012 when I moved to the Netherlands for a Marie Curie doctoral programme joining the group of Professor Piet Gros in the chemistry department of Utrecht University. During my PhD, I have also volunteered at the Utrecht University Green Office. So I've worked more than eight years in one way or another at Utrecht Science Park.

What does the Utrecht Science Park mean to you?

Well, it means a lot to me because, since I moved to the Netherlands, I've spent most of my time there. What I find great about Utrecht Science Park is the fact that it's a knowledge hub. Therefore, there is a lot of knowledge and innovation in a compact place and everybody is very open to help each other.

Utrecht Science Park made it possible that during my PhD I could have this collaboration with Merus, which really made my PhD much more interesting and successful and gave me the opportunity to continue my career in the company. Merus was actually in the same building as my research lab, so vicinity really helps to drive collaboration and innovation.

You feel like you are neighbors, because you're sharing the space, so you are more willing and open to share, collaborate and exchange ideas. For example, there is another company like Merus at Utrecht Science Park: Genmab. Some will see us as competitors. However, we are collaborating on things such as sustainability. In addition, we are going to move in the same building next year, the building called Accelerator. We both realized that we have a similar ambition of improving human health while being as sustainable as possible in the way we do things. Therefore, we inspire each other on this topic and we want this building to be very sustainable. So we are trying to have a common vision and the Utrecht Science Park makes this possible.

I think it’s really about enlarging your impact, because there are more people like you. You can reach out to them and you can inspire each other on doing good things together.

What is Utrecht Science Park’s impact on society?And what role do you play in this?

I really appreciate that Utrecht Science Park is kind of broadening the vision and the ambition of also linking these topics that I really care about, which is health and sustainability. Utrecht Science Park has a lot of impact on society through these topics. There is so much innovation at Utrecht Science Park. There is excellent research in the university, so basic research, and at the same time, there is a lot of applied research. Therefore, you see innovations that become something useful for society as a result.

Second, I feel like the atmosphere at the Science Park is inspiring. There are people who live nearby, students, student associations, companies and the university and the hospital. They all come together and discuss topics, like how do we want the Utrecht Science Park to be? This is very powerful. You feel like you contribute to make Utrecht a better place. It sets a good example for how society maybe should be also in other parts of the country. So I think the impact is big, both practically – like the output all this research is producing - and for the ambition that the Science Park has.

During my PhD, I felt like I was contributing to society because of my research of an antibody drug, which is now actually in phase two clinical trial and it is shown to help patients with a certain type of cancer. I also think my impact is having started the first sustainability group at Merus, which led to many sustainable changes in the company

What is your personal dream within your role? What do you want to achieve in the next 5–10 years?

My dream for the Utrecht Science Park is that we can enhance collaboration within the Science Park even more. There is so much knowledge in this area. Wouldn't it be nice to have a way to connect and inspire each other? To share best practices and meet to have these brainstorm sessions with different organisations. I think this way you could really kind of accelerate the impact and make it easier to collaborate on the positive initiatives. So that's my hope: that we can create more networks within the Utrecht Science Park.

And my personal dream… I have already done a few switches. From spending four years very much in the lab looking at these things from a very practical perspective and doing experiments myself, I’ve made from my passion my job as a Communication & Sustainability manager. I try to link the concept of the health of the Planet with the health of the people. I think that these are two concepts that are deeply interlinked. I feel like I’m broadening my impact more and more, in a way that feels aligned with my values and personal mission. So my hope is that I will continue to have a positive impact as a sustainability manager by applying sustainability and making people think about sustainability in my surroundings and hopefully at a company like Merus. Continue realizing the importance of considering how our health is so dependent on the health of the planet, and how we need to do something about that. And I think COVID made us realize that even more.

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