Wilfried Bakker's Biography

Wilfried Bakker, Senior Research Scientist, Netherlands Vaccine Institute

Wilfried Bakker received his Ph.D. in Bioprocess Engineering from Wageningen University. Subsequently, he became a staff-member at Utrecht University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Before joining the RIVM he held positions in several Dutch biotechnology companies.

At Diosynth, Wilfried worked on the mathematical modeling and optimization of animal cell culture based production processes. After that, he leaded the process development group at Crucell to manufacture adenoviral vectors for gene therapy. Subsequently, he headed a production department at Sanquin (location CLB) for the purification and formulation of human plasma products.

Currently, Wilfried is senior scientist and project manager at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and focuses on process development for viral vaccines. One topic of study is inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) production by using multivariate data analysis and a scale-down approach. Currently, using this technology, a new candidate Sabin-IPV is being developed and optimized for WHO. Another current project is on the development of platform technologies for viral vaccine production in order to reduce development timelines and facilitate future registration and technology-transfer. Dr. Bakker is a member of the Dutch Biotechnology Society (NBV) and the European Society for Animal Cell Technology (ESACT).