laurens Kruidenier, PhD

Laurens Kruidenier, Ph.D., is a seasoned R&D leader with over 30 years of experience in discovery research across academia and the life sciences industry. He has a strong track record of advancing innovative programs from early discovery through clinical development, with deep expertise at the intersection of neuroscience and immunology. He currently serves as Chief Scientific Officer at Nilo Therapeutics, where he leads research and development focused on novel therapeutic approaches that bridge these fields. Prior to Nilo, Dr. Kruidenier was CSO at Cellarity, a Flagship Pioneering company advancing a new model of drug discovery based on cell behavior. Previously, as CSO of Prometheus Biosciences, he helped shape the company’s scientific vision and scale it from a seed-stage spinout into a Nasdaq-listed, platform-driven biotech with multiple Phase 2 clinical programs, culminating in its $10.8 billion acquisition by Merck. Earlier in his career, he was Vice President of Discovery at Second Genome, overseeing a portfolio of microbiome-based programs, and Head of GI Immunology Research at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, where he led global discovery research and business development strategy in inflammatory bowel disease. He also held multiple leadership roles at GlaxoSmithKline, driving innovation across immuno-inflammation, epigenetics, and targeted protein degradation. Dr. Kruidenier completed his postdoctoral training at the University of London. He holds an M.Sc. in Medical Biology from Utrecht University and a Ph.D. in Mucosal Immunology from Leiden University. His work has been published in leading scientific journals, including Nature and Science.