Marjolijn Ligtenberg
The Power List 2016
Marjolijn Ligtenberg
Marjolijn heads the Genome Diagnostics Nijmegen’s Oncogenetics team in the Netherlands, working at the crossroads of hereditary genetics and pathology. The team’s focus is on detecting mutations that lead to cancer susceptibility, as well as identifying leukemia-specific genetic changes.
Nominators say that Marjolijn is “very good in implementing new technologies in molecular pathology, such as SMIPS and panel-based sequencing.” But she doesn’t stop at integrating these technologies herself; she’s deeply involved in educating others as well. “She is the founder of a new, nationwide educational program in the Netherlands for molecular biologists to learn to understand and implement new molecular pathology techniques. Graduates of the program are now working in most pathology laboratories in the Netherlands to give full support to the pathologists in executing molecular tests – and they do increase the quality of care.”