Hi and welcome to CARAF. My name is Vashti, born and raised on Aruba. In 2012, I came to the Netherlands to continue my education and pursue a career. In 2016 I earned my Bachelor of Science at Maastricht University, and in 2017 my Master of Science at VU university. I am a Health Scientist with a specialization in Public Health and Care. Currently, I am a PhD candidate at Amsterdam UMC location VUMC. I focus on eHealth, implementation, and medication adherence in cancer patients. I never imagined myself pursuing a scientific career however, after my internship I realized that this is what I should be doing. I hope to facilitate your academic careers as the president of CARAF.

My name is Mariëlle Osinga and I am currently a 4th year PhD-student at the University of Groningen. Within my PhD research, I study father absence and consequences for reproductive behavior and psychosocial development among Curaçaoan, Curaçaoan-Dutch, and Dutch youth. Before starting my PhD, I obtained my Bachelor and Master of Science in Education and Pedagogy and worked as a primary school teacher on Saint Martin. I find it important to connect theory and practice and hope to be able to facilitate this also among fellow researchers and experts as secretary of CARAF.

Hi there, my name is Cherelle Maduro, born in the Netherlands and nurtured on the lovely island of Curaçao. I have studied Health Sciences and Medicine. Currently I am acquiring my masters degree in medicine at Maastricht University while simultaneously being a PhD candidate at MUMC+, department of trauma surgery. A PhD position was not listed among my goals however, I am enjoying the journey. Nonetheless, it is a challenging position in which one can always use the help of fellow researchers or experts. That is why I am really looking forward as secretary of CARAF to enable this platform and assist you as a fellow.

My name is Shary Kock. I was born in Aruba and grew up in Zoetermeer, The Netherlands and have been island hopping back and forth.
I studied Information Sciences at the University of Amsterdam and acquired my master’s degree in Human-Centered Multimedia. My motivation for joining forces with CARAF came from a personal quest. When studying the possibilities of returning back home and with a big gap in my network, a lot of questions came to the surface. Where to find fellow Dutch Caribbean academics, what are the job opportunities for us on the islands and how can we combine forces to facilitate these matters for future generations? After many referrals and coffees I came across the team of CARAF. It’s been a great delight so far to collaborate with like minded people and by combining our talents we want to “Let the knowledge flow!”.

Hi, my name is Nagila. I was born and raised in Aruba, and I moved to The Netherlands when I was 18 to study Biomedical Sciences at the Maastricht University. I later also obtained my MSc. in Cognitive Neuroscience at MU. Currently I work in Medical Information in Rotterdam.
Growing up I didn’t hear about many Caribbean scientific researchers, but even so I have always found myself being gravitated towards the field and I hope to make this a more common career path for our future Caribbean researchers. As a Social Assurance Council member I hope to foster a welcoming atmosphere, where any (aspiring) Caribbean researcher can connect with others and develop themselves and their career. CARAF is a place where we can share our work with each other to celebrate and empower each other’s achievements. Part of that is also to share career opportunities so we can all advance together as a group.

My name is Milangelo Maduro. I was born and raised on Curaçao. I completed my bachelor in Business Administration and Master in Business Information Management at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. At this moment I work for a multinational IT consultancy company. Here I am an action-oriented Business Consultant and Business Analyst with a proven track record in the area of customer experience (CX). As such, I help organizations bring their customer experience to the next level. During my career I have gained experience in both the private and public sector helping organizations in dealing with their strategical challenges and with end-to-end solution implementations. This has made me a valuable sparring partner for both business and IT. Within CARAF I use this experience to improve the way we support research(ers) and collaborate with partners.

Guido Rojer Jr. is staff of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Economics and lectures on international commerce, entrepreneurship and innovation management. His work focuses on Innovation & Entrepreneurship on Small Island Developing States and Entrepreneurial Finance & Development Banking in Curaçao. He holds an MSc in Public Policy from the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance and received an MSc in International Business from the Maastricht University School of Business and Economics with a special attention for innovation economics completed at UC Berkeley, and is currently writing his PhD at the Faculty of Economics at UNED Madrid.