Profile photo Simon Mastbergen

Simon Mastbergen

Associate Professor

Biography

Dr. Simon C. Mastbergen is an associate professor and director of research at the department Rheumatology & Clinical Immunology of the University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands. He studied Medical Biology and obtained his MSc in 1998. In 2005 he obtained his PhD which was focused on the role of COX-2 in osteoarthritis. He has a strong interest in translational rheumatology research with a focus on tissue-regeneration in joint diseases, especially osteoarthritis, though not limited to. Central theme of his research is modulation of cartilage, synovium, and bone to prevent and when possible, cure joint damage. Within this theme he is involved in several research lines including “Joint distraction in treatment of severe osteoarthritis", “Causes of development and progression of osteoarthritis”, and “DMOADS in treatment of osteoarthritis” amongst other. Within these research lines he pushes for innovation and translation to the clinic.

Research groups

Rheumatology & clinical immunology

Research aim

To improve clinical practice by optimizing diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of rheumatic and immune-mediated and immune-deficient inflammatory diseases
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Knee joint preserving treatments

Research aim

The main goal of our research group is to develop and test joint preserving treatments for the knee joint, for pathology ranging from cartilage lesions to endstage osteoarthritis
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Utrecht Osteoarthritis Research - UROAR

Research aim

Our group studies osteoarthritis, from disease mechanisms to treatment strategies. Using a translational approach, we connect lab research to patient care, aiming to create effective diagnostic tools and patient-centered therapies.
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Recent publications

The Impact of varus and valgus alignment on knee cartilage quality assessed by magnetic resonance imaging Eva A. Bax, Joost A.J. Kerkhof, Nienke van Egmond, Ruurd J.A. Kuiper, Hassan Rayegan, Margreet Kloppenburg, Francisco J. Blanco, Ida K. Haugen, Francis Berenbaum, Simon C. Mastbergen, Felix Eckstein, Wolfgang Wirth, Frank W. Roemer, Moyo C. Kruyt, Harrie Weinans, Roel J.H. Custers
Knee, 2025, vol. 57, p.477-487
The development of a clinical prediction model for response to methotrexate, tofacitinib, and etanercept in patients with Psoriatic Arthritis F T Perton, M L M Bentvelzen, S Fadaei, J N Pouw, J Spierings, H E Vonkeman, S C Mooij, L G Schipper, A Herman, S C Mastbergen, P M J Welsing,
Arthritis research & therapy, 2025, vol. 27
Joint distraction versus custom-made unloading orthosis for knee osteoarthritis - A clinical and radiological study M R Huizinga, A J de Vries, M P Jansen, S C Mastbergen, P C Jutte, R W Brouwer
The Knee, 2025, vol. 56, p.637-645
Deep Learning Based Automatic Ankle Tenosynovitis Quantification from MRI in Patients with Psoriatic Arthritis Saeed Arbabi, Vahid Arbabi, Lorenzo Costa, Iris Ten Katen, Simon C Mastbergen, Peter R Seevinck, Pim A de Jong, Harrie Weinans, Mylène P Jansen, Wouter Foppen
Diagnostics, 2025, vol. 15
Application of knee joint distraction M P Jansen, S C Mastbergen
Connective tissue research, 2025, vol. 66, p.497-503
Aortic, musculoskeletal and organ characteristics on computed tomography in knee osteoarthritis - an explorative study in the IMI-APPROACH cohort Netanja I Harlianto, Pim A de Jong, Wouter Foppen, Edwin Bennink, Stijn Bunk, Simon C Mastbergen, Adriane D M Vorselaars, Mareye Voortman, Margreet Kloppenburg, Francisco J Blanco, Ida K Haugen, Francis Berenbaum, Karteek Popuri, Mirza Faisal Beg, Mylène P Jansen
Rheumatology International, 2025, vol. 45