Lykke Hinsch Gylvin, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Global Medicine at Boehringer Ingelheim, posted on LinkedIn:
“One of the things I’m reminded of again and again in the field of medicine is how many different paths can lead to the same goal, if we choose to deploy adaptive thinking.
At The Extracellular Matrix Pharmacology Congress 2026 in Copenhagen this week, I had the opportunity to engage with talented early-career researchers on what it means to build a meaningful career in science.
Together with Mads Israelsen from Odense University Hospital and Morten Asser Karsdal from Nordic Bioscience, I explored how distinct career paths can serve a singular purpose: improving lives.
In academia, discovery advances understanding. In pharma, it enables those discoveries to reach patients at scale. Neither works in isolation, and scientific innovation depends on how effectively we connect the two.
When we collaborate across disciplines and sectors – sharing insights, challenging assumptions, and building on each other’s work – scientific understanding turns into real progress for patients; something that felt especially clear in conversations at ECM.
My advice for those at the start of their careers: own your passion and be deliberate in driving on your chosen path. Stay curious, as you don’t know where your next learning can come from.
There is no single route to making a difference in healthcare, but we all share a responsibility: to make sure the science we pursue truly changes lives of patients, their families, friends and loved ones.”
Other articles featuring Lykke Hinsch Gylvin on oncoDaily.