Leadership Team

With a distinguished career spanning consultancy services and the pharmaceutical industry, Aad R. Liefveld is a passionate advocate for patient centricity and experience.

His leadership in account management across the BENELUX, France, and Southern Europe has been defined by a relentless focus on building strong customer relationships and delivering exceptional value—principles that are now central to the pharmaceutical sector’s evolution.

Driven by a commitment to solving one of clinical research’s most persistent challenges—early patient drop-out—Aad pioneered the development of Adherence Risk Management (ARM) services in 2017 for Link2Trials. By leveraging the Subjective Health Experience model, created by Prof. Dr. Sjaak Bloem of Nyenrode Business University, Aad introduced a groundbreaking approach to digitally deliver timely, individualized patient support and improve adherence throughout clinical studies.

Since 2021, Aad has played a key role in the BEAMER project, a major European initiative advancing the science of patient adherence. In 2025, he was appointed as a fellow at Belmont University’s Collaborative for Health Systems Innovation (Department of Health Systems Science) in Nashville, TN. Here, Aad is leading efforts to integrate BEAMER’s findings into the Thomas F. Frist, Jr. College of Medicine curriculum—making Belmont the first U.S. institution to introduce future healthcare professionals to innovative, individualized adherence strategies.

Aad’s vision is clear: to transform patient support and adherence, reduce early drop-out in clinical studies, and ultimately improve health outcomes for patients and communities worldwide.

With more than 15 years of experience at the forefront of BioPharma and medical food innovation, Simon Klaasen is dedicated to transforming clinical research and patient care.

Simon’s journey began with a clear vision: to solve the persistent challenges of patient recruitment, adherence, and retention that often delay critical clinical studies. His hands-on expertise has shaped new strategies that make these processes more effective, efficient, and centered around the patient experience.

Simon’s leadership is instrumental in the BEAMER project—an EU co-funded initiative that is revolutionizing how the healthcare industry understands and supports patient adherence. By uncovering the behavioral factors that drive real-world treatment success, Simon helps deliver actionable guidance to stakeholders across the sector, ensuring that every patient receives the support they need to thrive.

As a founder and partner at Link2Trials, Simon pioneered the use of social media and patient-centric approaches in clinical trials, setting new standards for recruitment and engagement. His commitment to innovation has empowered countless studies to overcome barriers and achieve better outcomes for patients and sponsors alike.

From November 2011, Sjaak Bloem is working for Nyenrode Business Universiteit as a professor of Health care consumers & experienced health at the Center for Supply Chain Management and Marketing. He is an expert in health consumer behavior, methodology and health innovations.

From 2000 on, Sjaak has worked at Janssen Benelux (pharmaceutical company of Johnson & Johnson) in several jobs and functions. Furthermore, he was member (secretary, lead communication) of the board of the Pension Fund Johnson & Johnson The Netherlands (2002-2015).

From 2013 onwards, Sjaak is a member of the Advisory Board of the Academy of Media and User Experience (Avans Hogeschool, Breda) and a consultant of the quality institute for Achmea Zorgverzekeringen (dementia, mantle and the elderly, the disabled).

From 2013 until 2014, Sjaak was a member of the Board of Trustees of Stichting Zelforganisatie Rotterdam. He was a jury member of the International Health Battle and member of the program IAB4 from 2012 to 2014.

In 2012, he was a Juror for the IAB4 contest (Brabantse Ontwikkelingsmaatschappij). He participates in the Nyenrode GfK Ziekenhuismonitor and was a jury member at the Bielat Pitch event in 2015 (Thomas More Campus, Turnhout, Belgium).