He was a co-founder and chairperson of the BioPontis Alliance for Rare Diseases Foundation, translating discovery science into candidate new therapies (2014-2020), and was Managing Director of the Center for Medical Innovation in Flanders, Belgium (2009-2015). Erik was Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs Europe and International at Genzyme (1992-2011), and co-founder & general manager of Innogenetics (1985-1992). He also was a founding Board member and chairperson of EuropaBio, the European Biotech industry association.

Erik is a Bioengineer with a PhD in Biosciences from KU Leuven. His interests are in innovation in healthcare, biotechnology, rare diseases, working with patients' organizations, and in translational research.