Hanneke Willemen

Hanneke Willemen was born on March 21th, 1982 in Den Bosch. She studied Biotechnology at Wageningen University and in 2006 she received her Master’s degree with specialization cellular/molecular research. In 2006 she started working as a research technician at the Laboratory of Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI). In 2008 she started her PhD-project in the PNI-lab to study neurobiological mechanisms underlying the transition from acute to chronic inflammation-induced pain under supervision of Professor Heijnen, Professor Kavelaars and Dr. Eijkelkamp. In 2013 this work resulted in her PhD thesis: “Chronic inflammatory pain: New molecules & mechanisms”. After completing her PhD she continued her research as a postdoc in the Laboratory of Neuroimmunology and Developmental Origins of Disease (NIDOD) under supervision of Dr. Eijkelkamp. She investigated the genetic contribution to chronic pain and identified an unidentified protein which has a key role to promote the development of chronic pain. In search for the molecular function of this protein she worked in the lab of Professor Falnes, Oslo University (Norway) for 3 months. In 2018 she was awarded with a VENI (NWO) to study whether targeting mitochondria is a novel way to treat chronic pain. She found that mitochondrial and redox changes in sensory neurons promote the switch from acute to chronic pain. Targeting the redox disbalance in sensory neurons prevented and treated chronic pain in mice, suggesting that targeting neurometabolic status is a novel option to resolve pain. In the neuro-immunulogy of pain group at Center for Translational Immunology she is currently investigating how an aberrant neurometabolism affects the ability of sensory neurons to resolve pain.

Moreover, since 2020 she leads an interdisciplinary team funded by Centre of Unusual Collaboration (CUCo). This research team not only connects disciplines, domains, and research paradigms, but also four universities (UU, WUR, TU/e, UMCU). The team consists of 9 assistant or associate professors, with different expertise’s (e.g. psychologist, linguist, veterinarian) to combine knowledge, skills and facilities to defeat chronic pain. They perform research in a holistic rather than reductionist fashion, and the generated output covers not only scientific publications, but is diverse, and reaches a wide audience. This includes public engagement at a popular science festival (Betweter Festival, 2021), a podcasts (Universiteit van Nederland), a lecture about the ‘sense of pain’ to the society (Studium Generale, 2022), an interview for a public engagement magazine, and setting up, coordinating and delivering interdisciplinary teaching on chronic pain (Graduate Honours Interdisciplinary Seminars, 2021 & 2022)