I grew up in the Netherlands and attended the Gymnasium high school in Gorinchem from 1985-1991, after which I went to the University of Texas in San Antonio on an athletic scholarship (played for the UTSA tennis team). I returned to the Netherlands in 1992, and enrolled in the Physical Therapy course of the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences. I graduated in 1996 and worked as a physiotherapist at various institutions. By the end of 1997, I cut back my working hours and studied Japanese Language and Culture at the University of Leiden (the Netherlands). After spending some time in Japan in 1998 and 1999 and being introduced to the science part of the medicine, I realized that a career in medical research would fit my interests and talents best. I got my Master of Science degree in Physiotherapy from the University of Leuven (Belgium) in 2003 and I completed another Master of Science study in Clinical Epidemiology one year later at the Netherlands Institute for Health Sciences (the Netherlands). Early 2008, I received my PhD in Medicine (Medical Informatics) as a visiting researcher at Kitasato University (Japan) and I am completing another PhD project in Clinical Epidemiology at the Julius Center for Health Sciences of the UMC Utrecht (the Netherlands). I have worked on many methodological projects, in particular in the development and assessment of methods for meta-analysis, although I am also increasingly involved in the assessment of interventions and diagnostics in primary studies. I am the primary author/programmer of MIX, a popular free program for meta-analysis. I am currently living in Japan and employed as a Junior Associate Professor in Clinical Epidemiology at the Kitasato Clinical Research Center of the Kitasato University School of Medicine and a Visiting research Fellow at the Julius Center for Health Sciences of the UMC Utrecht in the Netherlands.

Languages and Social Interests

I grew up in the Netherlands. Because I played tennis at an (inter)nationally competitive level when I was young, I probably traveled around a bit more than most boys of my age. After high school, I went to the United States and lived in San Antonio (Texas) for one year. After that I went back to the Netherlands. From 1998 onward, I have spent time in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Japan. I studied Japanese Language and Culture for two years at Leiden University and have studied and worked in Japan for more than 5 years after that. As far as my current language abilities are concerned, I am fluent in Dutch (my first language) and, like most Dutch people, my English is excellent. I haven't spoken German regularly in years, but with a bit of practice I can handle conversations in German fine. I have become fluent enough in Japanese for people not to notice I am a foreigner when we have standard conversations on the phone.

Clinical Epidemiology

My primary field of expertise is evidence synthesis and meta-analysis (frequentist and Bayesian), and applications in systematic reviews of diagnostic, prognostic (descriptive and interventional), and etiologic primary studies. I am particularly interested in methods and applications for general evidence synthesis, i.e. combining multiple levels of evidence at the individual as well as aggregate level. Although my research work has focused on methods for derivative research, I am trained as a generalist and am also involved in teaching general courses on methods of clinical research. This includes introductory courses as well as more advanced courses like "Fundamentals of Clinical Research", "Modern Clinical Epidemiology", "Advanced Diagnostic Research", "Advanced Prognostic Research", "Patient-oriented Clinical Trials", and "Practical Statistics for Medical Research".

Medical Informatics

My expertise in this area is mainly concerned with statistical programming. In contrast to many, I have not devoted myself to languages like JAVA, C+, or Pascal, but I have focused on statistical languages (e.g. R / S). I have become an expert in programming inside Excel with Visual Basic for Applications and Visual Basic 6. I am the author of the MIX software which is entirely programmed in and around Excel. In addition, I can find my way around the Bayesian statistical programming interface of WinBugs. At a more practical level, I am familiar with R, STATA, SPSS, and StatsDirect and virtually all meta-analysis packages (MIX, CMA, MetaWin, WeasyMA, MetAnalysis). With regard to general (productivity) software, I am used to working with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access), TeXnicCenter (LaTeX), EndNote, and the Adobe Creativity Suite (e.g. DreamWeaver, Illustrator, Photoshop), amongst others.

Academic employment

Kitasato University, 2008-2009
Place: Utrecht, the Netherlands / Sagamihara, Japan
Position: Junior Associate Professor

Utrecht University / Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, 2005-2009
Place: Utrecht, the Netherlands / Sagamihara, Japan
Position: Visiting PhD Fellow - Post-doctoral Researcher - Adjunct Assistant Professor

Kitasato University, 2003-2008
Place: Sagamihara, Japan
Position: PhD Fellow

Other employment

Before I dedicated myself to medical research, I have worked in various capacities at various places. Initially as a physical therapist at hospitals, nursing homes, and mostly at private clinics. After I studied Japanese Language and Culture at the University of Leiden, I have worked for a Japanese trading companyalso worked as an independent interpreter/business intermediary between Japanese and Dutch companies as well as product manager at a Japanese trading company. I am also a KNLTB-licensed tennis coach, and during my undergraduate studies I have taught tennis to children and adults in the Netherlands.

Gymnasium Camphusianum, 1985-1991
Gorinchem, The Netherlands
Study: Pre-university, graduated in 1991
Graduating courses: Dutch (6 years), English (6 years), German (6 years), Classical Greek (6 years), Physics (6 years), Chemics (6 years), Mathematics (6 years), Biology (6 years)
Minors: Latin (4 years), French (4 years), History (4 years)

University of Texas, San Antonio, 1991-1992
San Antonio, Texas, USA
Major: Pre-med / psychology; 1 year enrollment
Full athletic scholarship as a member of the tennis team. Winner of Southland Conference individual player tournament in singles and doubles (with Giovanni Casanova). Academic honors roll.

Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, 1992-1996
Utrecht, the Netherlands
Study: Physical Therapy, Bachelor of Science (BSc), graduated in 1996
Supervisor: Geert Aufdemkampe

Leiden University, 1997-1999
Leiden, the Netherlands
Study: Japanese Language and Culture, 2 year enrollment

University of Leuven (K.U. Leuven), 2001-2003
Leuven, Belgium
Study: Physical Therapy, Master of Science (MSc), graduated in 2003
Supervisor: Filip Staes

Netherlands Institute for Health Sciences, 2002-2004
Utrecht/Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Study: Clinical Epidemiology, Master of Science (MSc), graduated in 2004
Supervisor: Myriam Hunink

Kitasato University, 2003-2008
Tokyo / Sagamihara, Japan
Study: Medical Informatics, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), graduation March 2008
Supervisor: Noriaki Ikeda

UMC Utrecht / Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, 2005-2008
Utrecht, the Netherlands
Study: Clinical Epidemiology, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), graduation March 2009
Supervisor: Karel Moons