I’m a neurologist with a specialisation in movement disorders and Huntington’s disease (HD) in particular. I completed my study and training as a neurologist at Leiden University and Leiden University Medical Centre, respectively. I have been working with HD patients and their family members since 2011 at Maastricht University Medical Centre. Since 2015 I am the head of the national expert centre for HD in Maastricht, acknowledged by the Dutch Ministry of Health and Welfare. In 2020 I finished my PhD on Controversies and pitfalls in diagnosing HD.

Currently, I am involved in clinical and scientific research both nationally and internationally regarding HD. I believe I could make a contribution to the tasks of the Executive Committee (EC) and to HD in general on both clinical and scientific topics. As a clinician I am practical and like to think in solutions. I like to collaborate in a broad group of people, from patients, caregivers to basic scientists. I have proven to be successful collaborating in my current research in the Netherlands (www.cureq.nl). At last, I am a person who likes to start initiatives, is able to work on several goals parallel, and make them successful. I believe that with these personal characteristics I will be able to contribute to the work of the EC and will help the HD community in general.

Personally, I believe the future development of EHDN should aim at developing webinars and podcasts for both clinicians and patients to inform them about several topics engaging HD. Apart from the already existing clinical fellowship, I believe a scientific fellowship would contribute to the development of the EHDN and their members. At last, I believe encouraging EHDN working groups to collaborate, explore and facilitate funding options for research and endorsing (small) trials as well as developing guidelines, should remain one of the key goals of the EHDN.