Jenny van der Steen is an epidemiologist and Professor of Person-centred care at the end of life of persons with dementia. She chairs international advisory boards such as the UK EMPOWER Dementia Network, task forces of European organisations for dementia care and for palliative care, and she is a nominated fellow of the Gerontological Society of America. In the Netherlands, she initiated the NEtwork to Advance Research on END of life with dementia (NEAR-END). She and her junior researchers have been awarded 20+ prizes and career awards including from NWO and ERC.

More information about Jenny van der Steen-van Kampen

Jenny van der Steen is an epidemiologist and Professor of Person-centred care at the end of life of persons with dementia. She chairs international advisory boards such as  the UK EMPOWER Dementia Network, task forces of European organisations for dementia care and for palliative care, and she is a nominated fellow of the Gerontological Society of America. In the Netherlands, she initiated the NEtwork to Advance Research on END of life with dementia (NEAR-END). She and her junior researchers have been awarded 20+ prizes and career awards including from NWO and ERC.

Chair

Many people end up living with dementia until the end of life. A feared disease, dementia often involves, in addition to a considerable symptom burden, existential questions about the meaning of life. Person-centred care focuses on what makes a good life for the individual; a good life in all respects. In particular in the later phases of living with dementia, pro-active, multidisciplinary, integrated care is needed. Inspired by a palliative model of care, we convene thorough research on a good end of life with dementia.

Specific themes in our research include: (1) palliative care including advance care planning with dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases; (2) person-centred psychosocial interventions and behaviour in dementia; (3) end-of-life care, communication and decision making with life-shortening conditions; (4) research methods in populations with limited expressive capacity, research integrity, and education in convening research. The research is embedded in the LUMC Center for Health and Ageing, and it is conducted in collaboration with the University Network for the Care sector South Holland, and the Radboudumc Alzheimer Center inclusive of young-onset dementia.

Academic career

• 1996 Master’s (engineer) Food Technology, specialisation: Toxicology, Wageningen UR (University & Research), the Netherlands
• 2002 PhD “Curative or palliative treatment of pneumonia in psycho-geriatric nursing home patients: development and evaluation of a guideline, decision-making, and disease course,” VU University Medical Center Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and registered Epidemiologist B
• 2013-2016 Associate Professor VU University Medical Center Amsterdam, the Netherlands
• 2015- Senior researcher Radboud university medical center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
• 2016-2026 Associate Professor employed at Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
• 2024-2027 Visiting Full Professor King’s College London, UK
• 2026- Full Professor Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands