Maria Fenner got her Engineers Degree in Biotechnology and her work experience spans both, in academia and industry. She gained research experience in molecular biology, high-throughput cloning and cell culture techniques while working in Germany, Holland and Canada. Next, working at The Rockefeller University, New York, Maria studied neural differentiation of hESCs and iPSCs to dissect the role of different activators/inhibitors during early stages of development and investigated in a team the pathogenesis of Huntington. Her recent research experience involved generating patient-derived lung organoids at MSKCC, New York. At SilverSky, Maria is a Life-Sciences consultant, responsible for non-dilutive funding applications in the life science and technology sectors for academic research groups and small biotechnology companies. Currently she is engaged in, among other tasks, the development and management of Phase 2 of the international ZIM innovation cluster “Smart Solutions for Regenerative Medicine” by supporting collaboration of R&D projects, funding applications as well as the market launch of the new products.