I am looking forward to starting as Coordinator of the ERN eUROGEN Registry. It will be a challenge to set this up and find a good balance between the amount of information that we would like to have, and the amount clinicians are able to provide.
Until now, my scientific career has mainly been in basic science, so I am looking forward to contributing more to the clinical side of things.
After obtaining my MSc degree in 2006, I became a PhD student at Radboudumc. I was responsible for paediatric urology data collection for the AGORA (Aetiologic research into Genetic and Occupational/environmental Risk factors for Anomalies in children) Data- and Biobank, for which we collected data and material from over 5,000 children with a congenital disorder. With part of these data, I studied the genetic and environmental factors in the aetiology of hypospadias.
In 2012, I obtained my PhD degree with honours. After my PhD, I coordinated the collection, processing and distribution of biomaterials and clinical information for a European FP7 project on kidney cancer. Since 2014, my research focus shifted towards the aetiology and prognosis of congenital obstructive uropathies, for which I obtained two personal research grants that I am working on now.
I will be in contact with many of you, so “see” you soon!