Medical Specialist, AII - Inflammatory diseases Medical Specialist, Ear, Nose and Throat

PI
Specialization

Focus of research

My main field of interest is sinus and skull base surgery in relation to mucosal pathology of the upper and lower airways. My research line focuses on precision medicine, encompassing quality of life, treatment outcomes and costs (both at the patient level and for society as a whole), epidemiology of treatable traits, and endotyping. As such, basic immunological research, epidemiological studies, and clinical trials merge.

Chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP)

  • The results of a ZonMW-sponsored clinical RCT comparing surgical therapy + medical therapy versus medical therapy will be published shortly and will shed light on the role of sinus surgery in CRSwNP.
  • For patients with severe CRSwNP, biologicals are now available. We have started a national registry for real-life data on the effects of biologicals on CRSwNP (PolyREG; I act as project leader) and are aiming to publish the first results in Q3-2021. This registry includes the possibility to collect tissue samples for advanced endotyping techniques in order to be able to better predict treatment outcomes.
  • Last year, we published on our newly developed imaging-based technique to quantify extent of endoscopic sinus surgery and are now investigating the role of extent of surgery on treatment outcomes and disease control in CRSwNP.
  • Having investigated the costs of CRSwNP for society, we will further embark on studies revealing the cost-effectiveness of the above-mentioned treatment options.
  • Our research in this field is embedded in international collaborations (e.g., EUFOREA) and performed in close cooperation with our epithelial and immunological lab partners Kees van Drunen and Kornel Golebski.

Chronic rhinitis (both allergic and non-allergic rhinitis)

  • Our recent research elucidates the prevalence of chronic rhinitis and based on our data we have suggested a new epidemiological definition of chronic rhinitis
  • We also investigated the direct and indirect costs of chronic rhinitis in the Netherlands, amounting to 20 billion euro's annually
  • We are now finishing our data on the phenotypes of non-allergic rhinitis and their respective prevalences; publication expected in Q3-2021.
  • Based on our ability to phenotype non-allergic rhinitis, we will investigate new phenotype-specific treatment options and the relation of airway hyperreactivity in the upper and lower airways.
  • Research in this field is in close collaboration with international consortia such as the MASK-ARIA initiative and again performed in close cooperation with Kees van Drunen and Kornel Golebski.