248 About the author | Curriculum Vitae ABOUT THE AUTHOR | CURRICULUM VITAE Birgit Margaretha Maria Wever was born on January 2 in 1996, in Oosterblokker, The Netherlands. She followed pre-university education (VWO) in Hoorn and graduated in 2014. Within the same year, she started the Bachelor Biomedical Sciences at the VU University, Amsterdam. During this Bachelor, Birgit spent six months at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark for a minor in Cell Biology. She completed her Bachelor by doing her first research internship at the Pathology department of the Cancer Center Amsterdam on the relationship between gene-specific copy number gains and their protein expression in vulvar cancers and precursor lesions. In 2017, she graduated Cum Laude with completion of the extracurricular Honors program. Throughout her Bachelor’s degree, Birgit discovered her interest in contributing to the understanding of cancer and improving cancer care. Therefore, she started the Oncology Master at the VU University School of Medical Sciences, Amsterdam, in the same year. She did her first-year internship at the Pathology department of the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, on the gene manipulation of human adenoma-derived organoids using CRISPR/Cas9. During her second year, she wrote an extensive literature review on the molecular basis and rationale for combining immune checkpoint inhibitors with chemotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer, resulting in her first publication. She did her second-year internship at the Surgery department of the University of Illinois at Chicago Cancer Center in the United States on the detection of non-small cell lung cancer in plasma and urine using epigenetic biomarkers and circulating tumor cells. She graduated in 2019 and directly returned to her first internship position at the Pathology department of the Cancer Center Amsterdam to start her PhD trajectory on cancer detection using patientfriendly solutions. During her PhD, Birgit has been an active member of the Association of Amsterdam UMC PhD Candidates (ASAP) board, which strives to support the rights of all Amsterdam UMC PhD candidates on a national level and connect PhD students within the institute. She enjoyed her PhD trajectory and became even more enthusiastic and passionate about science. Therefore, she will continue her scientific journey as a Postdoctoral researcher in the liquid biopsy field at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia.
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