About
Introduction
I am Professor of Pharmacology and head the Division of Pharmacology within the Pharmacology and Vascular Medicine Sector of the Department of Internal Medicine at the Erasmus MC. I have supervised >40 PhD students since 1993. I published >400 papers in internationally refereed journals (H-factor = 60), and presented >270 invited lectures worldwide.
Field(s) of expertise
My research focuses on the pathogenesis and therapy of hypertension and heart failure, with special emphasis on the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, its local function(s) and the synthesis of its components at tissue sites. Additional recent research interests involve preeclampsia, oncology (VEGF inhibition), and the similarities between the latter two.
Education and career
I studied pharmacy in Amsterdam. In 1985, as a student, I worked at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA. After obtaining my pharmacist’s degree, I joined the Department of Internal Medicine at the Erasmus MC in Rotterdam as a PhD student. I defended my thesis in 1992, and then joined the Department of Pharmacology at the Erasmus MC.
Publications
Teaching activities
I teach pharmacology and pharmacotherapy in the Erasmus MC medical curriculum.
Other positions
I was president of the Dutch Pharmacological Society from 2011-2015 and chair of the Dutch Galien Award Committee from 2015-2019. I chaired the Angiotensin Gordon Conference 2014. I am a member of the Board of the Dutch Society of Hypertension since 2017.
Scholarships, grants, and awards
I received several awards, including the World Heart Federation Young Investigators' Award (1998), the Robert Tigerstedt Award (2010), the Arthur C. Corcoran Award (2011), and the Pieter A. van Zwieten Award (2015). In 2015, I was chosen as ‘Promotor of the Year’ by the Erasmus MC PhD students committee PROMERAS, and in 2018 'Distinguished Mentor' by the International Society of Hypertension. I was elected Fellow of the British Pharmacology Society in in 2017.
