After working as a consultant in science-based regional innovation, Pieter founded the
Dutch DIY science community, Waag Society, in 2002. His main interest lay in exploring
social and cultural innovation through the intertwining of open source hardware, software,
& wetware, and applying the results to the fields of synthetic biology, systems biology and
bioinformatics.
As part of his work at Waag Society, Pieter created Amplino: a company which diagnostic
device to help identify & combat malaria. Malaria affects almost half of the world’s
population and causes over a million deaths per year, predominantly among young African
children.
Their device not only enables early diagnostics, but also ensures patients are treated
quickly and avoids medicines being overused. Its flexible and affordable design enables the
more strategic interventions that are necessary to eradicate malaria in challenging medical
environments.
"We started as hobby project some time ago, tinkering with biotech and electronics in my
kitchen with friends. It was actually one of the reasons why I started hosting Dutch DIY Bio
meetups. We are now making way through the exciting field of medtech entrepreneurship,
and recently won the PWC social impact lab.”
- Pieter van Boheemen, DIY Bio Google Group
Pieter’s experience is a testament to how deeply citizen science can impact global
healthcare accessibility, and indicative of its reach to other fields.