“How can hospitals move away from single use medical consumables and make the transition towards circularity?” 💚 Exciting Milestone for ESCH-R!

On Friday, September 27th, we held our first Project Advisory Committee (PAC) meeting at Erasmus MC. The PAC plays a crucial role in providing guidance and feedback to our ESCH-R research project, which focuses on circularity in healthcare. The committee includes an independent scientific advisor, as well as a representative from NWO.

During the meeting, Nicole Hunfeld, Jan Carel Diehl, Redmer van Leeuwen and Erik van Raaij, members of the ESCH-R project board, shared updates on their respective work packages. Key topics discussed included:

• The current state of collaboration between our partners, like academic institutions and industry
• The scope of the objectives we aim to achieve within Esch-R
• The successful recruitment of all PhD students and Postdocs (Yes, they are all on board! 🚀)
• Milestones achieved so far, from recording the first podcast to publishing all ESCH-R communication channels (like the website, newsletters, posters etc)
• Upcoming challenges, such as how to thoughtfully build and engage a community of PhD students, Postdocs, student-researchers, and industry professionals. What activities should we organize, and what do they need to thrive?

Looking ahead, we’re excited for the next PAC meeting, which will take place during the ESCH-R Science Day on January 31st 🗓️. Stay tuned! Registration for the Science Day will open soon!

With many thanks to our project board member Albert Wagelmans for moderating this first PAC session and to Paula du Pont from NWO (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek) / ZonMw for being our ‘critical friend’! A special shout out to our visual storyteller Marieke van der Velden for the graphic report she has made during the PAC meeting!