A bio engineer turned entrepreneur: Combining knowledge in health and innovation to build a success story.

Sander Wuyts is a jack of all trades. He studied bio-engineering and worked in academia researching all kinds of bacteria and microbiomes… Until he traded his academic career in 2021 to pursue another dream: to become an entrepreneur. After reconnecting with colleagues from the University of Antwerp he founded ImmuneWatch.

With ImmuneWatch, Sander helped develop a machine learning algorithm that will help the pharmaceutical and biotech sector to more effectively map out treatments and cancer therapies. At TechNight, catch Sander on the main stage with professor Tom Vanden Berghe to talk about the role of technology in health and how to found a ‘universitary spinoff’, pushing innovations from within the institutions, whether it’s in the university, the college or the hospital.

Sander saw a way to put valuable knowledge from the institutions into immediate practice and he wasted no time. Now he’s working on a key challenge in his research field: to use the model of machine learning and put it to work in the fight against auto-immune diseases and cancer.  

Every student’s path is completely unique, but the importance of perspective really can't be overstated. That’s why Sander wants to share his path: “What would I do the same and what would I do differently if I would start all over today?” His story is one of various interests coming together and leading to key innovations in the fields where they’re most needed! That’s a one way road towards success!

Feeling inspired? Don’t miss out on Sander Wuyts’ talk at TechNight 2025 on the 25th of February!