What happens when a discovery in the lab needs to become a treatment for a patient? For Professor Bert Smeets, the answer lies at the intersection of science, entrepreneurship, and collaboration.

Smeets, Professor in Clinical Genomics at Maastricht University, has spent years working on rare mitochondrial muscle disorders and the development of regenerative therapies, and now leads FIT (Fitness Improving Technology), an Interreg project developing regenerative stem cell therapies for muscle disorders. His research helped show that patients' healthy stem cells can be isolated, expanded in the laboratory, and reintroduced into the body, laying the foundation for a potential stem cell-based treatment.

Now, through Milocron Therapeutics at the Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus, this work is moving closer to clinical application. Smeets emphasizes that bringing a therapy to patients requires more than scientific discovery: researchers, clinicians, entrepreneurs, and investors need to work together across the entire journey from the lab to the clinic.

Smeets recalls that he initially had little business experience and saw himself more as a pure scientist than entrepreneur. Over time, he realized that a business was required to make scientific discoveries productive and have them land in the clinic: “It’s good if you’re seen as both. You can’t just be one or the other. And it is great that Brightlands facilitates this trajectory” His journey reflects the very bridge that FIT aims to build between fundamental research, innovation, and ultimately patient impact.

Read the full article on Bert Smeet's journey from fundamental research to regenerative medicine: 'Kleine stapjes maken soms als een wereld van verschil voor patiënten.' by Robert Heeg