Profile photo Olaf Cremer

Olaf Cremer

Full Professor

Strategic program(s):

Biography

Olaf Cremer (1971) was trained as an anesthesiologist, intensivist and clinical epidemiologist. He has worked as a consultant in the department of intensive care medicine of the UMCU since 2007. Dr. Cremer has designed and co-developed the patient data management system that is currently in use. His detailed knowledge of the system and computer programming skills allow him to explore this clinical database as a rich source of information for several research projects within the division.
Prof. Cremer obtained his PhD degree in 2005 with a doctoral thesis on goal-directed management of patients with severe traumatic brain injury. His thesis included both experimental clinical studies focused on cerebrovascular pathophysiology, as well as large cohort studies focused on patient outcomes. Since 2010 he has been studying the clinical epidemiology of infections in the ICU and/or the postoperative setting. He is one of the PI's of the MARS consortium, a multicentre collaboration aimed at developing new molecular technologies for early diagnosis and risk stratification of sepsis. More recently he initiated the PLUTO project, a longitudinal biorepository of patients undergoing elective surgery in the UMCU. The main focus areas of his research group include:

1 - diagnostic uncertainty in early detection of sepsis

2 - attributable morbidity and mortality of (nosocomial) sepsis and acute inflammation

3 - decision support for diagnosis and treatment of sepsis

Cremer has been mentoring 20 PhD students to date.

Research groups

Epidemiology of sepsis & inflammation in critically ill patients

Research aim

We design and conduct clinical epidemiological research focused on risk stratification, early diagnosis, and novel treatment of critically ill patients with severe infections.

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Recent publications

Procalcitonin and interleukin-6 to diagnose infection in cardiac surgery patients with hyperinflammation Ted Reniers, Peter Noordzij, Eline Harding, Henk Ruven, Maaike Thio, Marloes Langelaan, Ineke Dijkstra, Lisette Vernooij, Olaf Cremer, Thijs C.D. Rettig
BJA open, 2026, vol. 17
Endothelial glycocalyx degradation and its association with clinical outcomes and host response aberrations in community-acquired pneumonia across different care settings Hui Wang, Erik H A Michels, Mingyang Cai, Joe M Butler, Justin de Brabander, Tom D Y Reijnders, Sebastiaan C Joosten, Timothy E Sweeney, Alex R Schuurman, Tjitske S R van Engelen, Bastiaan W Haak, Xanthe Brands, Renée A Douma, Olaf L Cremer, Hessel Peters-Sengers, W Joost Wiersinga, Tom van der Poll
Critical care (London, England), 2026, vol. 30
Red cell distribution width does not improve prediction of postsurgical infectious complications Nikki de Mul, Gabriele Mondelli, Lisette M Vernooij, Saskia Haitjema, Willem-Jan M Schellekens, Johannes B Reitsma, Olaf L Cremer
British Journal of Anaesthesia, 2025, vol. 136, p.1009-1011
Temporal robustness of biomarker-based classification algorithms for sepsis Emma Rademaker, Rombout B E van Amstel, Said El Bouhaddani, Marc J M Bonten, Lennie P G Derde, Lonneke van Vught, Tom van der Poll, Lieuwe D J Bos, Harm-Jan de Grooth, Olaf L Cremer
Intensive Care Medicine, 2025, vol. 52, p.22-30
Cytomegalovirus reactivation and the host immune response in patients with sepsis Justin de Brabander, David S Y Ong, Olaf L Cremer, Lieuwe D J Bos, Hessel Peters-Sengers, Tom van der Poll
The Journal of Infection, 2025, vol. 91
Premorbid Metabolic Syndrome Is Associated with the Hypoinflammatory Phenotype in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome and Sepsis Avery M Bogart, Sarah N Obeidalla, Rombout B E van Amstel, Olaf Cremer, Lieuwe D J Bos, Brian Bartek, Pratik S Sinha, Carolyn S Calfee, V Eric Kerchberger, Lorraine B Ware,
American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, 2025, vol. 211, p.2399-2401

External positions

External Project Advisory Committee - provide independent expert advice and strategic guidance to the project management board - BEATsep Consortium (EU)

Member of the Council for Science & Innovation (Raad W&I) - Advisor and liason officer for the Dutch Society for Intensive Care - Federatie van Medisch Specialisten

Chairman of the Science & Innovation Committee - Developing a Knowledge Agenda for the Intensive Care - Nederlandse Vereniging voor Intensive Care (NVIC)