Marjolein started her career as a scientific associate at Novartis where she studied the pulmonary delivery of a number of drugs.

This sparked her interest in research, which led her to UCL, School of Pharmacy to work as a research biology technician and part-time PhD candidate developing novel methods to screen drug compounds.

After completing her Cancer Research UK (CRUK) funded PhD, Marjolein decided to pursue her career from a funder perspective and joined CRUK as a Research Funding Manager, managing a portfolio of Drug Discovery Awards, acting as key point of contact for the CRUK & EPSRC funded Cancer Imaging Centres and delivering the first few funding rounds of the CRUK Pioneer Award, a funding scheme that supports innovative, high-risk, high-reward cancer research projects.

During her time as Research Funding Manager, Marjolein developed a keen interest in supporting the ongoing development of early career researchers, prompting her to make an internal move to the Research Careers team. In her current role as a Research Programme Manager she supports a portfolio of early to mid-career cancer researchers, including students, postdoctoral and independent researchers. As well as providing funding through, for example, personal fellowships, her team also delivers training and provides networking opportunities to support researchers at every stage of their career.

Marjolein holds a BSc in Nutrition and Health and MSc in Molecular Nutrition from Wageningen University in the Netherlands.