General practitioner and clinician-scientist Roderick Venekamp has been appointed Professor of Infectious Diseases in Primary Care at UMC Utrecht, effective April 1, 2026. In this position, he will focus on research aimed at improving the evidence-base for infections in primary care. The chair will be placed at the department of General Practice & Nursing Science and is embedded within the strategic research program Infection & Immunity.
Infectious diseases remain a major global health burden, causing millions of deaths each year and creating substantial healthcare and societal costs. In primary care, respiratory tract infections are among the most common reasons for doctor consultations, even though many are self-limiting and do not require medical treatment. Nevertheless, antibiotics are still commonly prescribed, incurring avoidable side effects, and contributing to the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. The recent Covid-19 pandemic further underlined the threat of infectious diseases to human wellbeing as well as the need for an efficient research response to improve and maintain patient care. The primary care research infrastructure in the Netherlands was, however, insufficiently equipped to generate such a response. A missed opportunity, since treatments in this setting have the highest potential for impact and reach by reducing infectious disease burden, viral transmission, and risk of hospitalization, and thereby preventing health systems from collapse.
Early diagnosis, risk stratification, and targeted interventions of infections in primary care hold promise to accelerate recovery, reduce hospital admissions, and prevent long-term complications. The Julius Center for Primary Care and Health Sciences (a division at UMC Utrecht) holds a leading international position in primary care infectious disease research, with strong national and European collaborations focused on improving prevention, diagnostics, antimicrobial stewardship and treatment strategies for patients with infectious diseases.
Roderick Venekamp combines clinical-epidemiological expertise, an outstanding research track record, strong leadership, and a clear strategic vision for the future of infectious disease care in primary care. As a practicing general practitioner and clinician-scientist for more than ten years, he ensures that his research directly addresses real-world problems encountered in daily clinical practice.
Roderick Venekamp about his focus points: “I am convinced that critical issues in healthcare can only be addressed through multidisciplinary collaboration. Together with my excellent colleagues, I am deeply committed to further improve the evidence-base for infections in primary care. Beyond further exploration of the cross-links between infectious diseases and cardiovascular diseases and cancer, we will focus on (i) improving the knowledge about and management of infections in primary care, in particular respiratory and urogenital infections, (ii) developing and evaluating interventions to improve the recognition and management of severe infections, sepsis and infection-related sequelae, and (iii) pandemic preparedness. I am proud that the seven Dutch academic departments of general practice joined forces and, in collaboration with Ecraid, established the Dutch GP Research practices Network. In the coming years, we will work on further operationalization, professionalization, expansion and sustainability of this network to boost primary care research as a whole and simultaneously ensure its functioning as a warm-base research infrastructure that can be rapidly deployed should future outbreaks of infectious diseases occur.”
Throughout his career, Roderick has successfully led major research projects, secured over € 2 million as principal investigator and project leader and contributed to over € 10 million in collaborative funding, including large European initiatives such as ECRAID-PRIME. His research has fed into national and international clinical guidelines and informed policy making, particularly in acute otitis media, antibiotic prescribing, and Covid-19 testing. Beyond scientific excellence, he has demonstrated strong academic leadership as head of the primary care infectious disease research group of the UMC Utrecht, supervising assistant professors and PhD candidates, chairing the Medical Research Ethics Committee NedMec, chairing the Authorization committee of the Dutch College of General Practitioners, and co-coordinating the UNH Consortium for General Practice research aimed at strengthening the Dutch primary care research infrastructure.
Importantly, he has developed a compelling vision for pandemic preparedness and sustainable primary care research, exemplified by his leadership in the Dutch GP Research practices Network and involvement in pan-European collaborations. This positions Roderick uniquely to advance both national and international infectious disease research in primary care. The combination of scientific impact, translational relevance, national leadership, and international recognition makes him a highly credible and strategic choice for this chair, which is unique in the Netherlands.
After his graduation as MD in 2008, Roderick Venekamp (1983) started to combine his GP training with a PhD program (PhD thesis: “Corticosteroids for acute rhinosinusitis”, 2012) at the Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care at UMC Utrecht. During this combined program he also successfully finished a master program Epidemiology Postgraduate at the UU Graduate School of Life Sciences. Roderick will continue to work as a GP which he combines with a position as Professor of Infectious Diseases in Primary care. Roderick is principle investigator of the primary care infectious disease research group of the UMC Utrecht which aims to further improve the evidence base for infections in general practice. In addition, he is member of the evidENT team at the University College London (UCL) thereby contributing to the strong links between UMC Utrecht and UCL. Furthermore, he is an active reviewer for the Cochrane Collaboration and has joined the Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) Group as an Editor in 2014. Roderick also has participated in the 2014 revisions of the practice guidelines on Acute Otitis Media in Children, Otitis Media with Effusion in Children and Acute Rhinosinusitis, issued by the Dutch College of General Practitioners (NHG). Roderick is chair of the clinical practice guideline authorization committee of the Dutch College of General Practitioners, and serves as member of the Vaccinations Committee of the Health Council of the Netherlands (Gezondheidsraad) and as member of several committees of the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw). Finally, he is chair of the Medical Research Ethics Committee NedMec.
