Speakers

Prof. Dr. Agnes Kant is an epidemiologist and has been the director of the Lareb Adverse Drug Reactions Centre since 2013. Lareb is the reporting and knowledge centre for adverse drug reactions and vaccines and their use during pregnancy and breastfeeding in the Netherlands. Since May 2024, she has been a special professor of pharmacovigilance innovation at the LUMC/Leiden University.

She studied Health Sciences at Radboud University in Nijmegen. She graduated as an epidemiologist in 1989. She worked as a scientific researcher at Radboud University for 5 years.

In 1997, she obtained her PhD with a thesis on the organisation of cervical cancer screening. From 1998 to 2010, she was a member of the House of Representatives for the Socialist Party. In the period 1998-2008, she mainly served as a spokesperson in the field of healthcare. From 2008 to 2010, she was the leader of the Socialist Party.

Frits Rosendaal is professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the LUMC in Leiden. His research is in the field of cardiovascular disease, with a focus on blood coagulation.

Besides that, he is active in the field of research integrity, as chair of the Committee on Scientific Integrity (CWI) of LUMC and Leiden University, member of the national committee on scientific integrity in Austria (OeAWI), chair of the policy group Scientific Integrity of the League of European Research Universities (LERU), Council member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and Editor-in-Chief of Research Integrity and Peer Review. From his experience in the field he will discuss theory and practice of scientific integrity, and how research into this subject is performed.

Helga Gardarsdottir is professor in use of Real world data for decision making on medicines at the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology & Clinical Pharmacology (Utrecht University, NL). Additionally, she holds the position of adjunct professor of Pharmacoepidemiology at the University of Iceland.

Her research focuses on the application and development of innovative approaches to generate and analyze real-world data on the safety and effectiveness of medicines for regulatory and clinical decision-making.

She has led and participated in several international research projects, as well as multiple EMA-tendered studies through the EU Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacovigilance Research Network. She is currently the co-chair of the European Network of Centers for Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacovigilance (ENCePP) steering group and an associate editor of the journal ‘Pharmacoepidemiology & Drug Safety’.

Jelle Goeman is professor of biostatistics at Leiden University Medical Center, where he is the head of the medical statistics group. His research focuses on high-dimensional data analysis, with applications to omics and neuroimaging, and in multiple testing problems.

He develops novel statistical theory and methods, but is also involved in many clinical and biomedical studies as a statistical advisor.

Marieke Adriaanse is Professor ‘Behavioral Interventions in Population Health’ within Leiden University’s and the Leiden University Medical Center’s interdisciplinary program Population Health at the Health Campus The Hague.

Marieke is trained as a health and social psychologist. She studies human behavior and behavior change in the health domain, combining fundamental and applied research. Her current work at the Health Campus is mainly interdisciplinary. She collaborates with disciplines such as medicine, epidemiology, governance, and data science to study how behavioral insights can be applied effectively and sustainably to promote healthy lifestyle and reduce health inequalities.

Suzanne Cannegieter is a professor of Clinical Epidemiology with a focus on Thrombosis and Haemostasis at the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. She is involved in several (inter)national multicenter studies as PI, WP leader or methodological advisor.

For her studies she combines the latest epidemiological and statistical techniques with pathophysiological and clinical knowledge. Topics include epidemiology (e.g., risks of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in (specific) populations), pathophysiology (e.g., role of hormones, obesity in the development of VTE), prediction (risk assessment models for situations at high risk for VTE) and optimal prevention (RCTs on individualized anticoagulant dosing). She is also co-Editor in Chief of the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis.

Dr Alma Tostmann is an infectious disease epidemiologist and is the deputy head of the Infection Prevention and Control unit, at the Department of Medical Microbiology at Radboudumc. She is responsible for the surveillance and outbreak detection of healthcare associated infections in Radboudumc. Her research and teaching interests include applied infectious disease epidemiology, global public health, infectious disease prevention and outbreak detection and control. Since April 2024, she is the co-director of the International Postgraduate Diploma in Infection Prevention and Control of the Infection Control Africa Network (ICAN). ICAN trains professionals on infection control programmes and has developed hubs across Africa to ensure that IPC training becomes closer to various regions. Her applied infectious diseases research includes projects on improving infectious disease surveillance including that of healthcare associated infections, strengthening pandemic preparedness and response, and developing and implementing educational innovations in IPC. She is one of the co-founders of the “Dutch Disease Detectives”, the working community on applied infectious disease epidemiology in the Dutch Society of Epidemiology.

Anne Voor in ‘t holt is a Clinical Epidemiologist and Assistant Professor at the department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam. Her expertise lies in comprehending the dynamics and risks associated with the transmission, acquisition, and carriage of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens and other emerging microorganisms. She wants to make sure that a hospital provides microbial safe care by creating and implementing evidence-based infection prevention and control strategies. By this, unnecessary spread of microorganisms can be stopped which will prevent healthcare-associated infections in patients. Her dedication extends beyond research, as she currently serves as the clinical epidemiologist for the unit infection prevention and control at Erasmus MC. Collaborating with clinical microbiologists and infection prevention and control practitioners, her responsibilities include overseeing the surveillance of microorganisms and healthcare-associated infections, as well as monitoring environmental contamination. She actively participates in outbreak management teams and transmission meetings, contributing to the construction of epidemiological timelines and facilitating the collection and interpretation of essential data.

Dr. Ben Wijnen is the head of the Centre for Economic Evaluations and Machine Learning at the Trimbos Institute. His research focuses on the efficiency of care within mental health care (GGZ) through both trial-based and model-based economic evaluations. From this perspective, he is involved in various (randomized) clinical studies on the efficiency of new treatments or alternative ways of delivering mental health care. In addition, in recent years, he has been a member of an evidence review group for the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in England. He has authored more than 70 international publications and is involved in various working groups related to the development of care standards and guidelines for indications within mental health care.

Cynthia Haanappel is a Clinical Epidemiologist at the Infection Prevention and Control Unit and a PhD Candidate in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at Erasmus MC. Her work focuses on the surveillance of pathogenic microorganisms in patients and the hospital environment. Through epidemiological data analysis she evaluates current infection control practices and conducts research to further inform and guide new infection prevention and control strategies. Her work bridges research and clinical practice, especially focusing on the safe and timely cessation of isolation measures.

Dr. Jildau Bouwman is senior scientist systems biology and scientific lead of the program Digital Health Innovations of TNO. She is also appointed as professor remote patient management at LACDR in Leiden. Her research focusses on how digital technology can support the individual and/or the health care professional in selecting the healthy choice. She is searching for new ways to measure health in the home setting, how to unlock these data in a privacy-by-design way, to find new diagnosis and interventions using Artificial Intelligence (AI). Generative AI can play a role in all these components.

Lodewijk Pet, a fourth year PhD candidate at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), focusing on the quality and integrity of biomedical sciences. My research addresses topics influencing research integrity, including the use of large language models, the development and application of research integrity codes of conduct, and the handling of research misconduct in the Netherlands and across Europe. I also serve as Secretary of the CTcue Governance Committee at LUMC, overseeing ethical governance in medical data platforms. My work aims to strengthen transparency and accountability in research practices through a combination of quantitative research and practical applications.

Dr. Marian Beekman is an assistant professor at the Leiden University Medical Center, department of Biomedical Data Sciences, section of Molecular Epidemiology. She studies biomarkers of ageing and lifestyle interventions promoting vital ageing, towards understanding of the mechanisms underlying human ageing. Therefore, she combines the in-depth phenotyping of the members of long-lived families of the Leiden Longevity Study (LLS) and participants of the Growing Old Together (GOTO) lifestyle intervention study with a wide scale of omics data analysis.

Dr. Nienke Slagboom is a medical anthropologist dedicated to bridging different worlds. Her research focuses on syndemics, the intergenerational transmission of complex problems, a life-course approach, and family-centered care. She is skilled in arts-based research and interventions, as well as participatory action research, to develop impactful and sustainable solutions.

Dr. Pam ten Broeke’s research focuses on the fundamental psychological processes involved in health behavior and health behavior change. She has specific interest in temporal dynamics of health behavior, habits, and sedentary behavior. In her current position, Pam focuses on interdisciplinary research, collaborating with the health campus The Hague.

Anne Huiberts is a PhD candidate at the National Institute for Public Health and Environment (RIVM). She studied Biomedical Sciences, with a specialization in epidemiology, at Radboud University in Nijmegen and graduated in 2021. The same year she started her PhD, which revolves around a large observational cohort study called the VAccine Study COvid-19 (VASCO). Her research focusses primarily on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness, as well as post-COVID symptoms and quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bente Smagge is a PhD candidate at the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). Her interest is in epidemiology of infectious diseases. She graduated from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine with a MSc in Control of Infectious Diseases in 2022. She worked as a junior epidemiologist at the RIVM before starting her PhD there. Her PhD research is on effects of COVID-19 vaccination. She studies vaccine effectiveness in the general population as well as effects of receiving vaccination during pregnancy on both fetal and neonatal outcomes and COVID-related outcomes, using observational data.

Joost Vanhommerig is a senior researcher in the field of epidemiology. He holds a PhD from the University of Amsterdam, where he focused on the epidemiology, molecular epidemiology and diagnosis of acute hepatitis C virus infection. Joost is currently affiliated with the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (Nivel) in Utrecht, where he works on projects related to general practice care, infectious diseases, and secondary use of healthcare data. Nivel Primary Care Database (Nivel-PCD), is a significant research resource in the Netherlands that comprises data from general practitioners and allied health professionals. The primary aim of Nivel-PCD is to study health and the utilization of primary health services within the Dutch population. It addresses questions related to health problems, treatment-seeking behaviors, and the efficiency of primary care. Data are derived from electronic health records that document diagnoses, treatments, prescriptions, and referrals. Data are available upon request and linkable with other data sources.

Lana Fani is a Clinical epidemiologist and Project coordinator at the Netherlands Cohorts Consortium (NCC). With a background in Neuroscience, Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology, Lana has extensive experience in cohort-based research, focusing on the intersection of chronic disease epidemiology and translational impact. After completing a PhD in neuro-epidemiology, Lana worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Epidemiology at Erasmus MC and lecturer in scientific development, combining methodological expertise with a strong commitment to education. Currently, she coordinates multi-cohort projects within the NCC, fostering collaboration between research groups to optimize the use of large-scale longitudinal data. In this masterclass, she will share insights into cohort-based research strategies, challenges, and the role of interdisciplinary collaboration in maximizing research impact.

Miranda Langendam is an epidemiologist with a background in health sciences and a keen interest in evidence-based health care. She is assistant professor and principal investigator at the department of Epidemiology and Data Science of Amsterdam UMC. The focus of her research and teaching is advancing evidence synthesis methodology, in particular guideline development and implementation. Her research interest covers a broad spectrum of topics: from developing core outcome sets and risk of bias instruments to evaluation of guideline implementation and development of methodological frameworks. As methodologist she contributed to numerous national and international guidelines, for example for WHO and the European Commission. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Guidelines International Network, board member of the GRADE working group, co-chair of the Dutch GRADE network and an active member of Cochrane. Her mission is to improve quality of care via impactful, rigorously developed evidence-based guidelines.

Miranda Schram is Professor of Diabetes Epidemiology at Maastricht University and Erasmus MC and founder and chair of the Netherlands Cohorts Consortium. She holds a MSc in Biomedical Sciences (1999) and in Epidemiology (2002).  She recieved her PhD entitled 'Patophysiology of diabetic complications, arterial stiffness, endothelial dysfunction and inflammation' at VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam in 2004, and is a registered Epidemiologist B. She participates in the UM Health-RI local node. Her research interests focus on the pathophysiology of common chronic diseases, which she studies in population-based cohorts. Miranda will enable collaboration between researchers across the Netherlands and will facilitate optimal use of the rich data that is available for research in NCC.

Mirjam Knol is a senior epidemiologist at the Center for Infectious Disease Control of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). She works in a team that evaluates the national immunization program. Her main focus is on studying the impact and effectiveness of vaccination, through existing surveillance data or dedicated studies. The results are used to inform the Dutch Health Council, which advises the Ministry of Health on implementation of national vaccination programs. Her work spans a broad range of vaccine preventable diseases, including COVID-19, pneumococcal and meningococcal disease, and disease caused by rotavirus or RS-virus. She is the project leader of a large cohort study including ~40,000 participants that investigates the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination, called VASCO.

Besides vaccine preventable diseases, she also has a keen interest in methodology of causal research, which started during her PhD project (2004-2008, UMC Utrecht).