30-11 2020 09:39
wrote:
“Start your research with rare diseases. If they reveal their secrets, then you can extrapolate them to more common diseases with similar phenotypic features”
Gertjan started in Leiden with unraveling the genetic defects of Duchenne muscular dystrophy and soon became an expert on rare diseases in general. He advocated to ‘focus on everything’. Lessons from rare diseases could be used for common conditions. Lessons from the health care services for one rare disease in one country could be used elsewhere. In his nine years as a national coordinator of Orphanet Netherlands, he was a figurehead and inspirator for us.
Even after his retirement from Orphanet Netherlands, years after his official retirement, he stayed on top of everything until the end. His contribution for the rare disease field in the Netherlands and worldwide, always with enthusiasm and creative quotes, has been immense. He always saw the patient behind the scientific question and understood the importance to bring together all different stakeholders in the rare disease field. We will remember him as an excellent translational scientist that always pushed us, with humor, to think out of the box. We will miss him.
Orphanet NL team
Judith Carlier - de Leeuw van Weenen, Wendy van Zelst-Stams, Martina Cornel and Petra van Overveld
30-11 2020 09:39
wrote:
“Start your research with rare diseases. If they reveal their secrets, then you can extrapolate them to more common diseases with similar phenotypic features”
Gertjan started in Leiden with unraveling the genetic defects of Duchenne muscular dystrophy and soon became an expert on rare diseases in general. He advocated to ‘focus on everything’. Lessons from rare diseases could be used for common conditions. Lessons from the health care services for one rare disease in one country could be used elsewhere. In his nine years as a national coordinator of Orphanet Netherlands, he was a figurehead and inspirator for us.
Even after his retirement from Orphanet Netherlands, years after his official retirement, he stayed on top of everything until the end. His contribution for the rare disease field in the Netherlands and worldwide, always with enthusiasm and creative quotes, has been immense. He always saw the patient behind the scientific question and understood the importance to bring together all different stakeholders in the rare disease field. We will remember him as an excellent translational scientist that always pushed us, with humor, to think out of the box. We will miss him.
Orphanet NL team
Judith Carlier - de Leeuw van Weenen, Wendy van Zelst-Stams, Martina Cornel and Petra van Overveld