Désiré Collen

Founder/Trustee

Désiré Collen founded FEFP on February 28, 2020 and was appointed Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the constitution of the Foundation.

He holds a MD degree (1968) and PhD degree in Chemistry (1974) from KU Leuven. His team initially developed t-PA, still the most effective drug for thrombolytic therapy of acute myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke. He has received several scientific awards including the Francqui Prize (1984), the Prix Louis-Jeantet de Médecine (1986) and the Health Prize of the Interbrew-Baillet Latour Fund (2006). Born a Belgian national, he became a domiciled resident of the UK in 2012 and acquired settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme of the UK in March 2019.

Kevin Burnand

Trustee

Kevin Burnand was appointed Trustee at the constitution of the Foundation. He was appointed as Professor of Vascular Surgery at St. Thomas’s in 1991.

He became Chairman of the Department of Surgery of UMDS in the same year and subsequently became Chairman of Surgery and Anesthesia of King’s College in 2000 before retiring in 2009.

Andrew Edge

Trustee

Andrew Edge was appointed to the Board on March 8, 2023. Andrew is a specialist employment and commercial barrister practicing from a leading Chambers in Central London. For the last 15 years, Andrew has been recognised by Chambers and Partners as being a leading barrister specialising in employment and discrimination law.

Daghni Rajasingam

Trustee

Daghni Rajasingam is a Consultant Obstetrician at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT) with a specialist interest in high risk maternal care and health inequalities. She was co-chair for the South East London local maternity system and a maternity clinical advisor to the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer at GSTT, her portfolio includes professional development/fulfilment, digital innovation and quality improvement across the organisation. 

Daghni also has a Masters in Leadership, Management and Partnership Working, is a qualified executive coach with the Institute of Leadership and Management and accredited mediator. She is a reader at King’s College London in healthcare management and leadership and is Chief Obstetrician for South-East of England. She is active in both regional and national leadership and advisory positions and co-chairs the Race and Health Observatory Maternity Group. She has been admitted as Yeoman of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries.

Christine Collen 

Trustee

Christine Collen holds a MD degree (2002) from Free University Brussels. After completing her training in Radiation Oncology (2007) at the University Hospital Brussels specializing in stereotactic radiosurgery, she became senior Radiation Oncologist in 2015 with special interest in neuro-oncology. Currently she is Head of Clinical Neuro-Radiotherapy section at Institute Jules Bordet, Brussels.

Diane De Wyngaert

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

Diane is responsible for the administration, HR and the bookkeeping of Life Sciences Research Partners, Fund+, the Désiré Collen Foundation and FEFP. She holds a bachelor degree in informatics and has worked as administrative assistant and bookkeeper for several companies such as Java, ADB (Siemens) and VIB.

Chris Buyse

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Chris Buyse is holding the position of Managing Director of the Foundation since October 2022. Until mid 2023, Chris Buyse was Managing Partner at Fund+, a biotech fund investing in innovative life sciences companies, that aims to create sustainable shareholders value and generate a tangible beneficial societal impact. He is currently serving Fund+ as a board member representing FEFP as major shareholder of this fund. From september 2006 till mid 2014, Chris BUYSE was CFO at ThromboGenics NV (now Oxurion). He has over 30 years of experience in international company finance and in running and establishing best financial practices. He was previously CFO of the Belgian biotechnology company CropDesign, where he coordinated its acquisition by BASF in early 2007. Before this, he held several financial positions in companies such as Unilever and Suez. In addition, he is currently also serving as a board member of some non-profit organisations such as LSRP vzw, the Francqui Foundation and the Louis-Jeantet Foundation.