Department head of Pediatrics/Willem-Alexander Children’s Hospital, Professor Pediatrics & President of Dutch Society of Pediatrics. Grants (selection): ZonMw, Horizon 2020, Kiddy Goodpills, ECCO.

More information about Lissy de Ridder

• Department head of Pediatrics/Willem-Alexander Children’s Hospital, Professor Pediatrics
• Grants (selection):  ZonMw, Horizon 2020, Kiddy Goodpills, ECCO
• President of Dutch Society of Pediatrics

Pediatrics

Pediatrics is a backbone of an academic hospital, requiring an integrated approach where patient care, research, and education seamlessly connect.

My focus will be on;

• Tailored Care: Providing appropriate patient care firmly embedded in regional and national networks.

• Scientific Research as a Driving Force: From bench-to-bedside research to implementation in clinical guidelines.

• Education and Talent Development: Creating a stimulating environment for young researchers and physicians to thrive.

• Strengthening Collaboration: A strong collaboration with the hospitals in the region, and with (inter)national partners depending on the field and level of expertise.

Next to this, I will focus on a strong collaboration between the pediatric department and various other departments of the LUMC.

Academic career

• January 2007; Doctorate at University of Amsterdam, Supervisor Prof. Dr HSA Heymans
• Ph.D. Thesis: “Pediatric inflammatory bowel disease: scoping the future. Genetics, diagnostics and therapeutics”.

Following my promotion, I established an international research program focused on pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This research initiative consists of several key components:

Design and execution of clinical trials comparing various treatment modalities.

Observational studies aimed at maximizing the use of real-world data. This includes the development and continuation of a long-term, high-quality international inception cohort—tracking children from onset of IBD diagnosis—to analyze disease progression, treatment effectiveness and safety, and to correlate these outcomes with individual risk factors. In collaboration with over 200 pediatric gastroenterologists worldwide, a monthly e-card system is used to maintain a safety registry, enabling the detection of serious and rare events in children with IBD and helping to prevent them in the future.

Translational research serves as a common thread throughout these studies. Through the collection of biomaterials, in-depth immunological analyses are conducted to further unravel the etiology of IBD and pave the way toward personalized treatment approaches.