Stefaan Wera studied biological sciences at the University of Leuven, Belgium (KULeuven) where he also obtained his Ph.D. degree in 1992. After a postdoctoral position at the Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire (laboratory for molecular biology) at the University of Liège, Belgium (1992-1993) he was awarded an EMBO-fellowship at the Friedrich-Miescher Institut in Basel, Switzerland (1993-1994). Following an FWO postdoctoral position at the Biochemistry Department at the KULeuven (1994-1996), he worked as Group Leader at the Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology until the end of 2001. He is co-inventor on a number of patent applications in the domain of drug discovery and author of more than 30 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Stefaan Wera is a founder and current chief operating officer of ViroVet NV, a biotech company based in Leuven and focused on the development of antiviral drugs and vaccines for livestock. He previously also founded Okapi Sciences, a company that developed antiviral drugs for animals and was acquired by Aratana Therapeutics Inc. Stefaan Wera also founded and was the former CEO of reMYND, a biotech drug discovery & development company based in Leuven. reMYND was founded in 2002 and specialises in the discovery and development of compounds with potential against Alzheimer’s disease.