Meet the Team
1. Could you tell us a little bit about your professional background?
An MD since 1999 and I obtained my PhD in basic science at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam in 2005. I was offered a postdoc position in Sweden, but decided to go back to the clinics and spend 2,5 years working as Internal Medicine resident, after that I worked 2 years for the Dutch FDA (CBG) registered as a clinical pharmacologist in 2011 and as psychiatrist at the University medical Center in Amsterdam in 2013. My clinical pharmacology residency was partly at a big cancer hospital where pharmacogenetics was applied in colon carcinoma patient (DPYD gene to guide capecitabine treatment). I took this knowledge and started applying it in psychiatric patients since 2013 at the Erasmus medical Center. It turned out to direct towards more appropriate medicines for individual patients in more appropriate dosages and to reduce side effects in psychopharmaca use. Thereupon I took the initiative to develop a national guideline on implementation of pharmacogenetics in psychiatry, that was authorized by the Dutch Psychiatric Association in 2020. Also, I set-up an outpatient clinic on pharmacogenetics in 2017, which I have been running ever since. In 2018 I started working on what is now the PSY-PGx project, which is basically an international out roll of my outpatient clinic in RCT set-up. I am a member of the Dutch Pharmacogenetics Working Group, hold research positions at Maastricht University and King’s College UK, have teaching positions at Schola Medica and PsyFar to train psychiatrists and GPs in pharmacogenetics and psychopharmacology and see new patients every week at my outpatient clinic Pharmacogenetics in Amsterdam.
2. What is your role in PSY-PGx?
The initiator and Scientific Coordinator of PSY-PGx, Lead of the Data Management Work Package, Lead of the Project Management Work Package.
3. Which aspect of your work do you enjoy the most, or you find particularly fascinating?
1. Interaction with other people, especially patients but also other care providers and scientific colleagues.
2. Creating better treatments for patients, as we are doing in the PSY-PGx project. Getting everybody on board and having all actively involved is great. It is very similar to making music in a symphony orchestra, as I have been doing for some 40 years now, where I am part of a bigger creative process where every musician has a role and responsibility but the end result is a joint effort.
4. In an ideal world, how do you envision mental health care to look like?
1. More prevention online and in communities for people with non-severe mental disorder before they enter the official psychiatric care systems and trying to prevent them getting worse symptoms
2. Finish treatment when possible, always have a clear treatment plan and evaluation with end of treatment (avoiding people getting dependent on care)
3. If this does not work another round of care, but also focussed and for a set period of time
4. Some patients need longer term care, but we should always strive to seek for opportunities to stop doing what is redundant and it should always be centered around the individual person’s needs
5. More emphasis on quality of life and daily activities, help with work, finances etc if necessary
6. More worldwide collaboration to increase knowledge on etiology of psychiatric disorders and enhance treatment options in general. Large data sets and AI can be of help here
7. More personalized treatment plan from the start, including more personalized treatment options e.g. by PGx guided psychopharmaca treatment and the algorithm that we will set-up
8. No mental health stigma and no stigma on psychopharmaca use
For my particular area, my ambition is to incorporate pharmacogenetics into psychopharmaca use in such a way that we reduce the trial-and-error period by reducing side effects and increase effect of our treatment as doctors around the globe for all patients using antidepressants or antipsychotics.
Of note: In general start of psychopharmaca in non-severe psychiatric disorders should not be advocated, but first focus on psycho-education, bibliography, activation, life style, physical exercise, financial problems etc.
1. Could you tell us a little bit about your professional background?
I have a Masters Degree (M.Eng) in electromechanical engineering by training and relevance experience of more than 25 years as an engineer in mainly R&D projects. Graduated at the University of Leuven and passionate about cars and engines, I started to work in the automotive industry where I spent most of my career. I have held various positions, ranging from an R&D engineer, R&D team manager, instructor of technical and after-sales training and head of R&D and training departments at several European and non-European car manufacturers.
Due to my mental health issues, at one point, few years ago, I chose quality of life over the challenges in a professional career that harmed my health. As a person with lived experience in mental health, I joined GAMIAN-Europe to represent the patients’ perspective in EU funded research projects (mental health related) and to act as liaison between GAMIAN-Europe and its members. I took the opportunity to broaden my experience and expand knowledge in the field of mental health through further training and participation in workshops, steering committees, conferences, seminars etc.
2. What is your role in PSY-PGx?
GAMIAN-Europe as a partner in the consortium is involved in 3 work packages in PSY-PGx: WP1C-the study setup IT, WP2- the ethical, legal and societal issues and WP7-Dissemination and Exploitation. In each of these work packages, we have well-defined tasks to be carried out throughout the project. In order to have some of these jobs done, GAMIAN-Europe has established a (external) Patient Representative Board (PRB) often also called the Patients Advisory Board (PAB). My personal role in PSY-PGx is in the first place the overall project coordination within our organisation, both the operational and financial (reporting) activities. For this, I am supported by my two colleagues of the staff team, the executive director and there where needed, members of the PAB. In addition and linked to this role, I am the chair of the PAB and the liaison between GAMIAN Europe and the PSY-PGx partners who are involved in the above mentioned work packages. No doubt, fulfilling this role of our organisation and my contribution to this is quite a challenge for us.
3. Which aspect of your work do you enjoy the most, or you find particularly fascinating?
Besides my job at GAMIAN Europe, I am Board Member of the patient organisation Ups & Downs in my home country Belgium and also active in various governmental advisory bodies. I enjoy my contacts and projects that are set up with and for my peers on national and European level. For example, the development and publication of guides with recommendations and tips for a good mental health (self)care. But also meetings with professional health carers and public authorities where I can advocate for patients rights against stigma and taboo about mental health or exchange knowledge and experience, do fascinate me a lot. The fact I can do all this work as a self-employed patient expert at my own company ENEA-Ltd, (Experience-Networking-Expertise-Advocacy in Mental Health) brings me much job satisfaction as well as some financial reward, also being a sign of appreciation for the work I do.
4. In an ideal world, how do you envision mental health care to look like?
This is a quite difficult question because in mental health care, there is no perfect world. In that sense, I would say mental health (care) should not strive to perfection, in research nor in treatment. That is why I often ask people : 'What is normal?' What norm do you apply to judge what is abnormal? (translated from Dutch). Do we have to be perfect to meet the standards? Starting from there, 'caring' means to do your best to be comprehensive, to listen and to take enough time to embrace. However nowadays, it is considered as normal not to have time to 'care', this looks for me 'abnormal'.