Leiden vs. COVID-19 Episode 2: We have heard about,vaccines to prevent coronavirus and medicines options to cure the disease, but in this episode we learn about a completely different approach‪.‬ TechTalk Podcast

Our guest: Eric van der Veen Born and raised in Canada, Eric moved to the Netherlands at an age of 21 to study Chemistry at the University of Amsterdam. After these studies he returned to Canada where he pursued a Ph.D degree at the University of Western Ontario in Biochemistry, specializing in vascular biology and lifespan extension. He then returned to the Netherlands where he started researching RNA-binding proteins in cardiovascular settings at the LUMC’s Department of Nephrology. After several years he started up his own research group that focused on how alternative splicing decisions in cells impacts there function in healthy and diseased conditions, highly fundamental research laid the groundwork for his decision to shift his RNA biology knowledge to a more translational setting. In September 2019 this resulted in his leaving the LUMC and starting up Hybridize Therapeutics, a RNA-based therapeutics company that focuses on developing small molecules that specifically target viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the current Covid-19 pandemic.