ISSTDR

Prof.dr. Christian Hoebe, MD, PhD, is full professor Social Medicine in particular Infectious Disease Control at Maastricht University. He is chair of the Department Social Medicine at Maastricht University and staff member of the Medical Microbiology Department of Maastricht University Medical Centre (MUMC+).

He is also head of the Department of Sexual Health, Infectious Diseases and Environmental health at the Public Health Service South Limburg (GGD). His research is performed within the Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI) within the research program Health Inequity and Societal Participation (HISP). He is chair of the Living Lab Infectious Diseases and Public Health. He has 25 years of relevant work experience in public health including sexually transmitted infections, infectious disease control, travel medicine, vaccinology and epidemiology.

He was (co)author of about 200 scientific international peer-reviewed publications. He was (co)applicant of over 50 grants with a total amount of more than €15.000.000. His work has a large societal impact with almost 1000 media performances by his hand. He was principal investigator and project leader of several large-scale public health projects where he has proven excellent analytical and organizational skills.

He demonstrates the ability to gain professional credibility and the ability to move forward in a changing environment: to adapt concepts and evidence to different contexts, and to develop and apply new ways of working.

Dr. Nicole Dukers-Muijrers is a senior epidemiologist infectious diseases. Nicole works since 1996 in academic based public health practice. She is program-leader in the fields of STI, HIV, chronic conditions, epidemiology, implementation research, social network analyses, disease prevention, behavioral interventions, health promotion. Academic editor open access journal BMC Infectious Diseases.

Publications: scholar.google.com/citations

‘I encourage researchers and care professionals to look beyond the boundaries of their field. As I support intersectoral work by integrating scientific models in public health-and clinical-care, and transdisciplinary science by applying methods from other scientific fields, to inspire innovation in both science and practice’.
 

Dr. Inge van Loo is consultant microbiologist at the department of medical microbiology, Maastricht University Center. Her field of expertise is virology and infection serology.

She is collaborating in research projects of the department of STDs and infectious diseases of the municipal healts service. Her main research topics are STDs, COVID-19 and development and implementation of novel diagnostic methods.
 

Dr. Ymke Evers is a research and policy officer at the Public Health Service South Limburg and affiliated to Maastricht University.

Her research and projects are focused on sexual health, epidemiology, STI, HIV, drug use during sex (chemsex), vulnerable groups, health promotion, community involvement, intervention development, implementation and evaluation.

She coaches and supervises other researchers and is involved in data management of the Centre for Sexual Health.
She is engaged in connecting research, policy and healthcare practice.
 

Dr. Casper den Heijer is working as a medical doctor in infectious disease control at the Public Health Service South Limburg. He is affiliated to Maastricht University as a researcher for the department of Social Medicine.

His main research topics are hepatitis B and C, Covid-19 and antibiotic resistance.

Dr. Brian van der Veer is a researcher and bioinformatician at the Maastricht University Medical Centre (MUMC+). His research is focused on surveillance and antimicrobial resistance of N. gonorrhoeae, commensal Neisseria species, and SARS-CoV-2.

He coaches other researchers to analyze Next-Generation Sequencing data of Illumina or Nanopore platforms. Also, he is involved in data management of the Medical Microbiology department of the MUMC+.

Charlotte Peters is a junior researcher and PhD-student. Her research is focused on reaching home-based female and male sex workers who have sex with men with preventive sexual healthcare services.

Additionally, she wants to improve accessibility to the preventive sexual healthcare services for the home-based sex workers. She has mainly conducted qualitative research.

 

Dieuwertje Horsten is a sexual health physician and PhD candidate and researching the public health response to the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhea.

Research summary

Gonorrhea poses an increasing challenge to public health concern due to its rising incidence and growing resistance to antibiotics. Dieuwertje’s doctoral research focuses on improving the control and management of gonorrhea within the public health system. A key component of the study is the role of symptoms in the detection of gonorrhea: how many people with gonorrhea present with symptoms, and can those symptoms support more targeted STI testing?

Another important aspect of the project is the evaluation of so-called "presumptive” treatment — administering antibiotics before test results confirm a gonorrhea diagnosis. The research assesses the effectiveness and efficiency of this approach.

In addition to the clinical perspective, her research also explores the broader social impact. Through interviews with young people under the age of 25, she investigates their experiences with gonorrhea, perceptions of risk, and views on prevention. This project aims to provide valuable insights that contribute to a more effective and evidence-based approach to gonorrhea control within public health.

Objective

To gain a deeper understanding of and improve the public health approach to gonorrhea infections, with a focus on clinical presentation, the effectiveness of testing and treatment strategies, and the needs of affected populations.

Hanneke Goense is a junior researcher and PhD-student. She works on a research and healthcare project called Limburg4Zero.

This includes an integrated and regional complete-care approach to reduce the number of HIV and sexually transmitted infections by home-based testing among men who have sex with men in Limburg, the Netherlands.

Kiki op den Camp is a research and policy officer at the Public Health Service South Limburg. Her research and projects mainly focus on the sexual health of youth, with attention for STI, HIV, vulnerable groups, health promotion, intervention development, implementation and evaluation.

She makes in her work the connection between research, policy and practice.

Mayk Lucchesi is a research technician working at the department of medical microbiology in Maastricht (MUMC+).

With his knowledge, skills and experience in and around the laboratory he supports the STI team on various research topics.