After having worked as a post-doc at the University of Twente, Helma worked abroad for several years. For example, she conducted research and teaching in Hong Kong at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
One of these projects resulted in the establishment of a spin-out company, which she managed for a number of years. After this company moved to Berlin, Helma transferred to the University of the West of England in Bristol, where she started her Technology Transfer work. After doing this for five years in England, Helma put her knowledge to use in developing the Technology Transfer Office at the Netherlands Cancer Institute.
From here she made the move to the agribusiness multinational Syngenta, where she was Licensing Manager in the first years, followed by Project Manager R&D in a large change project. Before starting her own company with all this knowledge, she worked as Director of the Centre of Expertise Genomics, called Generade. Because she likes to work with students, teachers and researchers on practical issues with practitioners, she has joined the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences as professor in Implementation of Healthcare Technology in 2021.