Professor Dr René Bernards brings extensive experience in oncology as a researcher and a serial entrepreneur. He is a Professor at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI). He performed his post-doctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Robert Weinberg’s group at the Whitehead Institute. He joined Harvard Medical School as an assistant professor in 1988 to study function of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes He received his PhD in 1984 from the University of Leiden. In 1994 he was appointed part time professor of molecular carcinogenesis at Utrecht University, The Netherlands.

His laboratory focuses on the development of new tools to perform genome-wide genetic screens to identify novel genes that act in cancer relevant pathways.His research has produced 14 clinical trials (including 2 global Phase 3 trials).

He has co-founded Agendia in 2003, Prolifix in 1993 (currently TopoTarget) and Qameleon.

At Gilde he actively contributes his experience in drug target discovery, preclinical and clinical development and precision medicine in the evaluation of investment opportunities in oncology, company building and portfolio management.