Dr. van Deventer was trained as an internist and board-certified gastroenterologist, received a doctorate of philosophy from the University of Amsterdam, worked as a scientist at Rockefeller University and became director of the laboratory for Experimental Internal Medicine at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam in 1995.

In 1998, he co-founded Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics (AMT; currently Uniqure), a gene therapy company that develops AAV-based gene therapy products. From 2001 until 2004, he chaired the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam. Dr. van Deventer has had a critical role in the development of the first commercial monoclonal antibody (Remicade) and the first gene therapy to be granted market authorization in the Western world (Glybera). He currently is a Managing Partner at Forbion Capital Partners and Professor of Translational Gastroenterology Leiden University Medical Center. He is a member of the Boards of Argos Therapeutics (Durham, USA), Uniqure (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), Hookipa (Vienna, Austria), Staten Biotechnology (Naarden, The Netherlands) and enGene (Montreal, Canada).