Hello Jenni Nordborg!
Av Jenni Nordborg up in the small business community of Anderstorp in the Gnosjö region, Småland. She trained as a civil engineer at Chalmers in Gothenburg, after which she obtained a doctorate in chemistry at the same university. She has started tech companies, headed Vinnova’s Department for Health, and headed the government’s Life Science office from 2018 until the turn of the year.
At the beginning of this year, she took up a newly established position as Head of International Relations at Lif - The Research-based Pharmaceutical Industry in Sweden.
What does your new job entail?
“I work with collaboration for drug development and life science in general, including research, innovation, production and implementation in an international context. Over the next six months, I will focus strongly on the Swedish presidency of the EU and the activities that we arrange at Lif in this connection”.
You have headed the government’s Life science office for four years. What are you most proud of from that time?
“That we managed to make a strong push around the national life science strategy and brought the important issues of health data, precision medicine and competitiveness onto the national agenda. I am also proud of our international work and the memorandum of understanding with the UK”.
What are you less satisfied with?
“I find it frustrating that things must take such a long time. We need to accelerate the pace, especially on the issue of health data, and Sweden must do more here”.
Why did you train as a chemical engineer once upon a time?
“I love science and have always enjoyed working with problem-solving, and I am also from an entrepreneurial family”.
What kind of business did they run?
“It was a company in my home town Anderstorp that manufactured screws and nuts. It was called “Nitfabriken Vulkan AB” and it was an engineering company, and at the same time, it was a typical Småland company in the sense that it was highly focused on production but also on common solutions. My grandfather and his siblings founded the company and my mother was the owner, and my father was the CEO”.
Who is your role model?
“People who can bring together different perspectives”.
Can you name a person who lives up to that?
“Ann-Marie Wennberg Larkö, who has been Hospital Director at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in recent years, but she is now leaving that post. She brings all perspectives into her work and always puts innovation and research first”.
What do you miss about your previous job as Life Science Coordinator?
“I miss my team and our joint daily work”.
What don’t you miss?
“Not always being able to speak freely about my opinions and views on issues concerning life science”.
What is your best work tool?
“Communication and teamwork”.
What was the last thing that made you angry?
“The war in Ukraine and the immense suffering it causes”.
When was the last time you laughed?
“This morning at our morning meeting at Lif. I often laugh, and it was in a conversation about nothing in particular. I think we talked about how challenging it can be when the agenda is not as full as it used to be, which is both an opportunity and a challenge”.
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