Dirkje Postma | |
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| Born | 1951 Nij Beets, The Netherlands |
| Nationality | Dutch |
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| Institutions | University of Groningen |
Dirkje (Sjoukje) Postma (born 1951 in Nij Beets, the Netherlands) is professor at the University of Groningen and the University Medical Center Groningen. She focused her research career on asthma and COPD. Postma is a member of the Health Council of the Netherlands. [1]
Postma graduated with a degree in medicine in 1978. She specialised in pulmonology. In 1984 she obtained her PhD-degree with a thesis entitled Reversibility of chronic airflow obstruction. [2] After graduation, she worked for the Longfonds (then called Astmafonds), a Dutch health organisation. On behalf of this organisation, she became endowed professor at the University of Groningen. In 1998 she got appointed as full professor Pathophysiology of the respiration at this university. On 1 April 2016 Postma retired.
Postma's research focusses on asthma and COPD. She co-authored over 600 peer-reviewed papers in journals such as New England Journal of Medicine and the Lancet. Because of her research, steroids are nowadays used to mitigate the symptoms of asthma. Her research has been beneficial to millions of people suffering from resporatory illnesses. [3]
One of the results of her research is that asthma and COPD can be distinguished from each other. Postma and co-workers found out that genetic variants occurring in people suffering from allergies also occur in people suffering from asthma and those with a higher risk of myocardial infarctions. These links between these conditions have led to new insights in how to treat those conditions.
In 1995, Postma received the Aletta Jacobs Medal. Five years later, she received the Spinoza Prize, the highest academic honour in the Netherlands. [4] [5] In the same year she (as second woman in the Netherlands) joined the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. [3] [6] In May 2015 she received the prestigious Trudeau Medal from the American Lung Association. She was the first non-American recipient of this honour. [7]
In 2007, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences awarded her as Akademiehoogleraar [8] and two years later she received the presidential award of the European Respiratory Society.
Postma holds honorary doctorates of the University of Sheffield [9] and Lund University. In her name, the Dutch Longfonds has set up a scholarship for young talents, the Dirkje Postma Talent Award. [10] [11]
The University of Groningen is a public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. Founded in 1614, the university is the second oldest in the country and one of the most traditional and prestigious universities in the Netherlands.
Obstructive lung disease is a category of respiratory disease characterized by airway obstruction. Many obstructive diseases of the lung result from narrowing (obstruction) of the smaller bronchi and larger bronchioles, often because of excessive contraction of the smooth muscle itself. It is generally characterized by inflamed and easily collapsible airways, obstruction to airflow, problems exhaling, and frequent medical clinic visits and hospitalizations. Types of obstructive lung disease include; asthma, bronchiectasis, bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although COPD shares similar characteristics with all other obstructive lung diseases, such as the signs of coughing and wheezing, they are distinct conditions in terms of disease onset, frequency of symptoms, and reversibility of airway obstruction. Cystic fibrosis is also sometimes included in obstructive pulmonary disease.
The Spinoza Prize is an annual award of 1.5 million euro prize money, to be spent on new research given by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The award is the highest scientific award in the Netherlands. It is named after the philosopher Baruch de Spinoza.
Bronchial hyperresponsiveness is a state characterised by easily triggered bronchospasm.
Fluticasone furoate, sold under the brand name Flonase Sensimist among others, is a corticosteroid for the treatment of non-allergic and allergic rhinitis administered by a nasal spray. It is also available as an inhaled corticosteroid to help prevent and control symptoms of asthma. It is derived from cortisol. Unlike fluticasone propionate, which is only approved for children four years and older, fluticasone furoate is approved in children as young as two years of age when used for allergies.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a type of progressive lung disease characterized by long-term respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation. The main symptoms of COPD include shortness of breath and a cough, which may or may not produce mucus. COPD progressively worsens, with everyday activities such as walking or dressing becoming difficult. While COPD is incurable, it is preventable and treatable. The two most common types of COPD are emphysema and chronic bronchitis and have been the two classic COPD phenotypes. Emphysema is defined as enlarged airspaces (alveoli) whose walls have broken down resulting in permanent damage to the lung tissue. Chronic bronchitis is defined as a productive cough that is present for at least three months each year for two years. Both of these conditions can exist without airflow limitation when they are not classed as COPD. Emphysema is just one of the structural abnormalities that can limit airflow and can exist without airflow limitation in a significant number of people. Chronic bronchitis does not always result in airflow limitation but in young adults who smoke the risk of developing COPD is high. Many definitions of COPD in the past included emphysema and chronic bronchitis, but these have never been included in GOLD report definitions. Emphysema and chronic bronchitis remain the predominant phenotypes of COPD but there is often overlap between them and a number of other phenotypes have also been described. COPD and asthma may coexist and converge in some individuals. COPD is associated with low-grade systemic inflammation.
Olodaterol is an ultra-long-acting β adrenoreceptor agonist (ultra-LABA) used as an inhalation for treating people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It is manufactured by Boehringer Ingelheim.
Sir Peter John Barnes, FRCP, FCCP, FMedSci, FRS is a British respiratory scientist and clinician, a specialist in the mechanisms and treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). He was Margaret Turner-Warwick Professor of Thoracic Medicine at the National Heart & Lung Institute, previous head of respiratory medicine at Imperial College and honorary consultant physician at the Royal Brompton Hospital London. He is one of the most highly cited scientists in the world
The Dutch hypothesis provides one of several biologically plausible explanations for the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a progressive disease known to be aetiologically linked to environmental insults such as tobacco smoke.
Fluticasone furoate/vilanterol (FF/VI), sold under the brand name Breo Ellipta among others, is a combination medication for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. It contains fluticasone furoate, an inhaled corticosteroid, and vilanterol, an ultra-long-acting β2 agonist (ultra-LABA).
Ann Janet Woolcock AO FAA FRACP was an Australian respiratory physician–scientist and one of the world's leading asthma experts. She contributed greatly to the field of asthma research and founded the Institute of Respiratory Medicine, Sydney, which is now known as the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research.
Tjitske Nienke"Cisca"Wijmenga is a Dutch professor of Human Genetics at the University of Groningen and the University Medical Center Groningen. She has been Rector Magnificus of the University since September 2019.
Marijn Franx is a Dutch professor of astronomy at Leiden University. He was a winner of the 2010 Spinoza Prize. His research focuses on the formation and evolution of galaxies. He is involved with both the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes.
Ineke Sluiter is a Dutch classicist and professor of Greek Language and Literature at Leiden University since 1998. Her research focuses on language, literature, and public discourse in classical antiquity. She was a winner of the 2010 Spinoza Prize. Sluiter has been president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences since June 2020, and previously served as vice president from 2018 to 2020.
Marileen Dogterom is a Dutch biophysicist and professor at the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at Delft University of Technology. She published in Science, Cell, and Nature and is notable for her research of the cell cytoskeleton. For this research, she was awarded the 2018 Spinoza Prize.
Eveline Crone is a Dutch professor of cognitive neuroscience and developmental psychology at Leiden University. Her research focuses on risky behaviors in adolescent humans during puberty and examines the function of those risks. For her research in adolescent brain development and behaviour, she was awarded the Spinoza Prize, the highest recognition for Dutch scientists, in 2017.
Amina Helmi is an Argentine astronomer and professor at the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.
Sejal Saglani is a British medical researcher who is Professor and Head of the Inflammation, Repair and Development Section at the National Heart and Lung Institute. Her research considers wheeze and severe childhood asthma. She serves as an Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Respiratory Medicine at the Royal Brompton Hospital.
Peter Burney is a British epidemiologist. He is emeritus professor of respiratory epidemiology and public health at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences since 2001.
Asthma-Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Overlap (ACO), also known as Asthma-COPD Overlap Syndrome (ACOS) is a chronic inflammatory, obstructive airway disease in which features of both asthma and COPD predominate. Asthma and COPD were once thought of as distinct entities, however in some, there are clinical features of both asthma and COPD with significant overlap in pathophysiology and symptom profile. It is unclear whether ACO is a separate disease entity or a clinical subtype of asthma and COPD. The pathogenesis of ACO is poorly understood, but it is thought to involve both type 2 inflammation as well as type 1 inflammation. The incidence and prevalence of ACO are not well known. The risk factors for ACO are also incompletely understood, but tobacco smoke is known to be a major risk factor.
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