Jan H. Spaas was born in Bilzen (Belgium) on January the 6th, 1986. His passion for horses translated in winning a 2-fold bronze medal at European Championships show jumping. He graduated as a veterinarian in 2010 at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Ghent University (Belgium) and obtained his PhD in Veterinary Sciences at the same Faculty. 

In 2012 he co-founded Global Stem cell Technology (acquired by Boehringer Ingelheim in 2020) to develop regenerative therapies for the treatment of musculoskeletal diseases in horses and dogs. From 2020-2024 he worked for Boehringer Ingelheim as director in global development (Athens, Georgia, US) and Global head of Research (Ingelheim, Germany). 

In 2020 he was appointed visiting professor at the Department of Medical imaging of Domestic Animals and Orthopaedics of Small Animals from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University. He is promotor of several PhD students, inventor of 50 patents and key author of over 40 peer-reviewed international scientific publications. He is also an Associate Editor of Frontiers in Veterinary Science for the Veterinary Regenerative Medicine. 

In 2024 he made a new start in his home country Belgium as Chairman of the Board of Animab8 and co-founder of Intibio focusing on innovative orthopaedic solutions for horses.