Meet the nextGEN
Maria Vistnes - Klyv Therapeutics AS
Who or what called you to lead?
My journey into medicine began in the Amazon.
I enjoyed science and mathematics—my father was a physicist—I didn’t grow up with the childhood dream of becoming a doctor. Instead, I applied to university for a general program of science and maths.
But, after high school, I took a year out to travel and work in Venezuela. There, in the Amazonas region, I volunteered in hospitals and clinics in remote areas.
Seeing doctors working in those underserved communities—providing care delivering babies, and administering vaccines—changed my perspective. I realised that medicine would let me directly impact lives. So, I changed my university application to study medicine right before the deadline.
During my medical career, I found myself fascinated by the heart. It wasn’t just the medical challenges, but the physics behind it—a pump, with pressures, forces, and resistances—the heart is tangible and calculable.
Its complexity and mechanics aligned with my interest in natural sciences, especially how its concrete principles could predict outcomes. Understanding the underlying physiology allowed me to make real-time decisions that could save lives.
But it wasn’t long before my interests broadened from treating individual patients to addressing bigger, systemic medical issues.
As a researcher, I discovered a novel enzyme linked to heart failure. That enzyme was like a personal mission for me—it wasn’t just a scientific curiosity, but a potential breakthrough in treating heart failure through antifibrotic therapy.
I realised that, to truly bring this therapy to patients, I had to leave the academic path behind and take up the challenge of entrepreneurship and make a bigger impact on patients.
Maria’s full profile is available for our members inside the community.