Ir. Tanja Vervust

Tanja holds an MSc in Bioscience Engineering from Ghent University and has over 25 years of experience with Rousselot. In January 2018, Tanja was appointed Global Director Rousselot Biomedical.

Which aspect of your work inspires you the most? 

As the biomedical market evolves and science enables new application possibilities to emerge, now has never been a more interesting opportunity for us to really exercise the ever-expanding pool of knowledge and expertise we have across the team. We create new applications for our customers, based on an entirely new level of quality. Our gelatins and gelMA’s are customized to specific requirements with unrivalled levels of purity, which is vital for applications used in the human body. I’m inspired by every customer challenge that we’re asked to tackle – the more complex, the more determined I am to deliver the desired result – the rest of the team share this determination and curiosity.

What brought you into the gelatin/collagen world?

As collagen/gelatin is a natural and trusted excipient with many different functionalities and exciting applications, the possibilities seemed endless, and this caught my attention right away. We’ve spent decades researching the collagen molecule, its functionalities are endless and therefore the possibilities for biomedical applications that support patients, are also endless.

What are the main topics to consider when choosing a biomaterial?

Purity, quality and batch-to-batch consistency are crucial. It’s essential for product manufacturers, in fact all entrepreneurs and companies that are about to develop in vitro or in vivo applications, to understand the physical characteristics of gelatin or gelMA that can influence cell differentiation and cellular functions. The Rousselot Biomedical team works in close collaboration with customers to determine the right product specifications and properties, to meet their specific need.