PI
Specialization

Rhinology

Focus of research

  Main field of interest is sinus and skull base surgery and mucosal pathology of the upper and lower airways.

Chronic Rhinosinusitis and Nasal Polyps: From epidemiology via system biology to new treatments.
Further to the GA2LEN network we will investigate differences in disease expression between ethnic groups in a cohort of 8000 patients and will further participate in the Helius study. We will identify disease mechanisms and develop new treatments for difficult to treat cases with some new options currently under evaluation. In a national multicenter trial we aim to compare efficacy of surgery versus medical treatment (ZonMw). The new possibilities of biologicals are investigated.

Non-allergic rhinitis: From pathophysiology to new treatments.
Around 10% of the European population suffers from NAR with effective treatment only available for few individuals as the aetiology is often unknown. Phenotyping NAR in a clinical and laboratory setting has led to a new treatment option, with a second in development together with pharmaceutical partners.

Allergic rhinitis: Towards personalized treatment
We have shown that different allergen sensitizations have different clinical outcomes that affects treatment in individual patients and corroborated this by laboratory studies. In an international IMI consortium (UBIOPRED) on severe lower respiratory diseases we will search for molecular handprints for the relationships of upper and lower airway and in a new EU trial (BM4SIT) we will evaluate personalized immunotherapy.