Since April 1, 2023, Prof. Dr. Joep Killestein has been director of the MS Center Amsterdam. He takes over from Professor Bernard Uitdehaag, who held this position for ten years. Uitdehaag will remain affiliated with the MS center as an MS neurologist. The composition of the board has also changed as a result.

The MS Center Amsterdam was founded 25 years ago. It is a collaboration between various areas of expertise within Amsterdam UMC. More than 100 researchers and health care providers across 13 departments are involved in the research and treatment of people with MS. Killestein, together with Prof. Dr. Elga de Vries, forms the executive board. De Vries is the scientific director of the center.

New board

The seven departments within Amsterdam UMC where most research into MS is conducted are represented on the board of the MS Center Amsterdam. In the past year, there have been a number of job changes within the departments represented on the Board. As a result, there are some new faces.

  • Prof. Dr. Vincent de Groot, rehabilitation doctor, department of rehabilitation medicine
  • Dr. Bas Jasperse, radiologist, department of radiology and nuclear medicine
  • Prof. dr. Joep Killestein, neurologist, department of neurology, director MS Center Amsterdam
  • Dr. Evert-Jan Kooi, pathologist, pathology department
  • Dr. Menno Schoonheim, neuroscientist, department of anatomy and neuroscience
  • Prof. dr. ir. Charlotte Teunissen, scientist, clinical chemistry department
  • Prof. dr. Elga de Vries, neuroimmunologist, department of molecular cell biology and immunology, scientific director MS Center Amsterdam

Future

Together, the board is committed to a better quality of life for all people with MS. They want to achieve this through tailored therapy: every person with MS, the right treatment at the right time. To this end, the Power of Data program will start in 2023. Data from all patients will be included in the MS Centrum Amsterdam Database after their consent. Ultimately, the intention is that an algorithm can be used to predict the course of that individual's disease and how he/she will respond to a certain treatment, based on the characteristics of an MS patient entered. More information about the Power of Data Program (in Dutch).

Symposium

On May 25, at the symposium The Power of Data in honor of the 25th anniversary of the MS Center Amsterdam, Prof. Dr. Bernard Uitdehaag will say goodbye as director of the center. Are you not invited, but would you like to come? Mail to mscentrum@amsterdamumc.nl

Would you like to support the Power of Data program? Please contact: mscentrum@amsterdamumc.nl