Until 2017, Edvard Beem has served as co-director of The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw). Since its establishment in 2001, he was responsible for research strategy, public-private co-operation and international relations at ZonMw. Edvard was originally trained as a biochemist and spend most of his scientific career at the Netherlands Cancer Institute. He also serves as the chair of the General Assembly of Joint Programming Initiative “More Years, Better Lives” and held governmental positions in numerous international funding consortia promoting European and global collaboration in research, innovation and infrastructures.