Draft:Christine Durinx

Christine Durinx is a Belgian Pharmacist and Managing Director of VIB, a life science research institute in Flanders, Belgium. She started her career in Belgium in the pharmaceutical industry and then moved to the Geneva region. She worked in Switzerland for over 10 years, both in the pharmaceutical industry and in the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), a non-profit foundation that is a pioneer in databases, software tools and data science services for the life sciences.

Early life and education
Christine Durinx grew up in Antwerp, Belgium. She graduated in Pharmacy from the University of Antwerp where she also received her PhD in Pharmaceutical sciences, on the structure and function of the enzyme dipeptidyl-peptidase-IV.

Career
After completing her education, Christine Durinx embarked on a successful career in the pharmaceutical industry. In 2009, she moved to the Lake Geneva region with her family.

After several years in the Swiss pharmaceutical industry, in 2014, Christine Durinx joined the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB). Between July 2018 and March 2022, the SIB was led by Christine Durinx and Ron Appel, as Joint Executive Directors.

While at SIB, she co-led the European ELIXIR data platform. Her work on the sustainability of research data infrastructures contributed to the establishment of the ELIXIR core data resources, and later the Global core biodata resources. In 2021, Deep Knowledge Analytics (DKA) included Christine Durinx in the list of AI influencers in Switzerland.

Since April 2022, serving as the Managing Director of VIB (Flemish Institute for Biotechnology) together with Jérôme Van Biervliet, Christine Durinx continues to shape the landscape of biotechnology in Flanders, Belgium. VIB supports top-tier research, founds spin-offs, and provides the ecosystem with access to innovation, technology, and talent. Christine Durinx has the mission to establish a new research center in AI and computational biology (VIB.AI). She is a member of the Board of Directors of EU-LIFE, the alliance of research institutes advocating for excellent research in Europe, in which VIB is a founding partner.

Christine Durinx is an advocate for diversity, among others by mentoring young scientists and encouraging them to take on leadership roles.

She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Research Foundation - Flanders, as well as of the Board of Directors of the Born-Bunge Institute.