Brief summery of MentLife, our achievements and future plans.

1. An Interface between Life Science Industry and Academia
February 19, 2014

2. What Is MentLife?
• A not-for-profit organization mentoring PhD students, with particular
emphasis on personal development and on facilitating interactions
between students and Life-Science Companies
• Comprises
– Senior scientists with a PhD degree and extensive post doctoral R&D
experience working in industry and/or academia plus international
experience in facilitating industrial – academic collaborations
– PhD students in Life Sciences drawn from the science, medical and
engineering faculties of Lund University
• Designed to complement the existing mentoring and career programs
within Lund University by drawing on the unique knowledge and
expertise of the mentors

3. Faculty of Medicine
Faculty of Sciences
Faculty of Engineering LTH
Mentoring
Seminar programs
Networking-Academy
Industry
BIOTECH
PHARMA
MEDTECH

4. MentLife - Mentors

5. Mentors 2013/2014
György Marko-Varga Professor and Head of Div. Clinical Protein Science & Imaging, BMC, LU
Rickard Öste Professor in Food Chemistry, Lund University, CEO, CRO & Owner Aventure AB, Oateley
Lars Erik Edholm Founder of MentLife
Thomas Edward Fehniger Director,Center of Excellence in Biological and Medical Mass Spectrometry, LU
Anders Nilsson Senior Scientific Adviser Ferring Pharmaceuticals
Bo Servenius Senior Scientist
Agneta Walhagen Executive Director, Pharmaceutical Technologies LEO Pharma
Lena Gustavsson Head of Section Drug – Drug Interactions at H.Lundbeck A/S
Richard Cook Angus Consulting Manager and Research in the UK, USA and Sweden
Tanja Jensen Assistant Editor& Product Manager Elevate Scientific
Göran Eriksson Consultant at Gerik Medical Consulting AB, Affiliated to Dep. of Respiratory Medicine and
Allergology at LU
Michael Wilstermann
R&D Laboratory Manager at Mölnlycke Health Care

6. Networking
Industry
Academia
Medicon Village
MVA
MaxLab IV
ESS
Swedish Pharmaceutical
Society
Medicinska Malmö
Mentor4Research
PLUME
MedStar
Career programmes
Mentoring
Seminars
Network

7. Seminars
at Medicon Village 2013/2014
• May 27, 2013. Introduction to Life Science
• Nov 6, 2013. Drug Discovery, Development and
Trends - moderators: Linnéa Taylor, Lund University; AnnSofie Andersson, Project Manager MVA
– R&D in the Pharmaceutical Industry (Richard Cook)
– Alligator Biosciences AB (Christina Furebring,
Research Director)
• May, 2014 Big Pharma. Academic collaboration.
Postdoc programmes.

8. Proposed Seminar, May 2014
Industrial –Academic collaborations & industry-sponsored
post-doctoral programs
Overview of the company
Research and Development areas
Career paths for PhD s
Post doctoral programmes. National/internat.
Recruitment policy and contacts
Expertise needed
Nature of Academic collaborations
Adjunct Researchers

9. MentLife: Benefits to Mentees
• Provides opportunity for personal development and
early career guidance, including opportunities outside
Academia
• Understanding of Research and Development as it exists
in Big Pharma, Biotech and Med Tech companies
• Facilitates Knowledge-transfer and sharing
• Provides access to national and international R&D
networks
• A joint mentor/mentee program and series of seminars
tailored to the needs of the students
• Complements the existing career guidance provided by
the university

10. MentLife: Benefits to Industry
•
Facilitates early identification and recruitment of
talented scientists
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MentLife is uniquely positioned to act as an interface between
high-quality Life-Science graduates/post graduates from
Academia and companies looking to recruit
Easier acccess to competences and research activities
relevant to company interests
Supports creativity at both ends by enabling joint
industry/university collaborations
Access to academic networks
Joint seminars and establishment of long-term links
between Industry and Academia

11. What Has MentLife Achieved?
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Set up a Steering committee drawn equally from mentors and representatives from
medical, science and engineering faculties within LU
Established a mentoring program comprising 12 mentors and 12 PhD students
representing all three faculties
Joint meeting held at Pufendorf Institute (Sept 25, 2013) with next meeting planned
Feb 12
Initiated a seminar program open to all Life-Science students and post-docs (May 27,
Nov 6 2013); next seminar to include representatives from major Pharmaceutical
companies scheduled for May
Has provided an in-depth understanding of R&D as it currently exists within Big
Pharma and Biotech companies
Access to national and international R&D networks
Established contacts and received endorsement from among others,The Swedish
Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Mentor4Research
Limited financial support and access to facilities to enable the MentLife program

12. Support for MentLife
•
Medicon Village (facilities)
•
The Pufendorf Institute, Lund University (facilities)
•
The Swedish Academy for Pharmaceutical Sciences (financial -seminars)
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Medicinska Malmö (collaboration)
•
Mentor4 Research (IVA)
– IVA funding is conditional on pursuing formal affiliation with Lund
University