Hester den Ruijter, principal investigator of Experimental Cardiology at Division of Heart & Lung, has been appointed professor of Cardiovascular disease in women at the Faculty of Medicine of Utrecht University as of June 1.
With her chair, the new professor plans to focus on earlier detection of cardiovascular disease over the next five years. “My group of postdocs, doctors in training, biomedical scientists and analysts, is working on a test to detect cardiovascular disease in women earlier,” Hester explains. “In addition, we want the research to better identify which women have symptoms due to problems in small blood vessels and spasms, and how they arise. If we understand that better, we also have a better chance of developing good therapies.”
In 2010, Hester den Ruijter started as a postdoctoral researcher at the Julius Center at UMC Utrecht. Three years later, she started at the Laboratory of Experimental Cardiology where she established her line of research on differences in cardiovascular disease in men and women. “The knowledge about cardiovascular diseases in women is less than the knowledge about these diseases in men,” says Hester. “What we do already know is that there are interesting differences between men and women in the development and expression of cardiovascular disease.”
Within education, Hester wants to focus on paying more attention to diversity. “Diversity is broader than differences between men and women, but is about everyone having the right to good health and appropriate care, regardless of whether your gender, cultural background and age. When it comes to women with cardiovascular disease, we are going to work, in collaboration with the Heart Foundation and the NVVC, on a knowledge platform that will provide broad information on this topic. This knowledge platform is not only for researchers and physicians, but also specifically for patients, and other interested parties.”
In the coming years, Hester will translate her group’s research findings to the clinic. She finds translational research, from lab to bedside, most inspiring because techniques change rapidly. “In both clinical research and basic research, relevant discoveries are being made at a rapid pace. I find it very motivating to connect that and translate it into clinical practice. This requires good collaboration, especially with patients. If this translation to clinic succeeds, my mission will be successful.”
