Tom W.J. Huizinga is professor of rheumatology, department head of rheumatology and vice-clinical educator rheumatology. He is chairman of the 'Meteor' foundation, an international registry of disease activity and medication use of RA patients of more than 20 countries. Moreover he is chairman of the national postgraduate educational committee of Dutch rheumatology. He is PI/coordinator of the ERC-Synergy grant Glycanswitch 2023-2029

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Tom W.J. Huizinga is professor of rheumatology, department head of rheumatology and vice-clinical educator rheumatology. He is chairman of the 'Meteor' foundation, an international registry of disease activity and medication use of RA patients of more than 20 countries. Moreover he is chairman of the national postgraduate educational committee of Dutch rheumatology. He is PI/coordinator of the ERC-Synergy grant Glycanswitch 2023-2029

Reumatology

Reumatology studies joint disease which affect normal daily living by inflammation of the joints. He is especially interested in pathogenesis, early recognition and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus.

Academic career

Tom W.J. Huizinga absolved Medical School and his doctorale research at the University of Amsterdam. The title of his thesis (1989, cum laude) is 'Neutrophil Fc-gamma receptors'. Subsequently he studied in Dartmouth Medical School, New Hampshire, USA and specialised in Leiden as rheumatologist. In 2000 he was appointed as full professor rheumatology at the University of Leiden. The title of his inaugural lecture was 'Experimental Reumatology'.

For more than 30 years prof Huizinga has carried out research on pathogenesis, diagnostics and treatment of rheumatological disorders. He published more than 750 scientific publications and more than 20 book chapters. His H-index (determined on 8 february 2018) is 90. He served on national and international  boards of scientific organisations. Prof Huizinga served on the editorial boards of the following journals Plos Medicine, Annals of Rheumatic Diseases, Arthritis Rheumatism, Joint Bone Spine Revue du Rheumatism, European Journal for Clinical Investigation, Journal of Clinical Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Medicine, Autoimmunity Highlights and Current Rheumatology Review.

Huizinga participated in a number of internatonal scientific committees among which the committee that established the new 2010 ACR-EULAR criteria for RA and the committee that established the EULAR guidelines for the treatment of RA.

Prizes and honourable appointments

Tom W.J. Huizinga was awarded with a number of prizes among which the Boerhaave-prijs 1994:
'for young scientists because of outstanding contributions to Immunology', in 1996 the 'European League against Rheumatism (EULAR) young investigator award', in 1997 the American 'Howard and Martha Holley Award', in 2009 the 'Willy van Heuman-award for generation of in-vitro models as alternatives for animal-models' and in 2011 the 'Eurolife Distuinguished Faculty Lecture Medal' by the Karolinska Instituut in Stockholm Sweden.