Research output per year
Research output per year
MD PhD
Bartholinsgade 6Q, 2. sal
1356 København K
Øster Farimagsgade 5
1353 København K
Research activity per year
Current Positions
Education
Institution |
Degree |
Year |
Field of Study |
INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France |
EMC (honours) |
2021 |
Change management |
Dutch Epidemiologic Society, Netherlands |
MsC |
1997 |
Epidemiology |
Leiden University, Netherlands |
PhD |
1993 |
Physiology |
University Hospital Leiden, Netherlands |
Consultant |
1992 |
Critical Care |
University Hospital Leiden, Netherlands |
Consultant |
1990 |
Internal medicine |
Leiden University, Netherlands |
MD (honours) |
1984 |
Medicine |
Career
Trained as an MD (1984) I became a consultant in Internal Medicine (1990) and Critical Care (1992). A series of experimental studies on critically ill patients provided me with a PhD (1993). I acquired an additional master in epidemiology (1997) how to design, handle, and analyse clinical studies. One of my early contributions was on fatal trajectories of meningitis, published in Lancet. As my clinical activities moved to caring for older patients, I became a research fellow into the biology of ageing at the University of Manchester (1998). As a result of this stay, I published on the fertility-longevity trade-off in Nature.
When appointed full professor of Medicine in Old Age (2000), I combined my clinical position as head of the department of Gerontology and Geriatrics at the University Hospital Leiden with research into ageing. Often my observational studies were followed by human experiments in small groups, others by clinical trials in large numbers. These findings have led to numerous publications in general biomedical journals, including over 50 contributions in N Engl J Med, JAMA, Lancet, and BMJ.
In 2008 I became the founding director of the Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing, a privately funded institution in collaboration with the university, hospital, and municipality of Leiden. It became home for a series of PhD students on the economical, psychological, and social aspects of ageing. Moreover, I initiated the Master of Science on Vitality and Ageing that attracted ample international students.
It was 2015 when I moved to the University of Copenhagen to become co-director of the Center for Healthy Ageing of which I had membered the scientific advisory board since its inception in 2009. It allowed me to make a next step to perform state-of-the-art fundamental and inter-disciplinary research. The NNF challenge program awarded me (2018) a personal grant to connect biological specimen with population registers, attracting excellent researchers, and using their complementary expertise to address the challenge of ageing.
When I grew older myself, my focus shifted from children to older people, from health to well-being, from patients to society, from professionals to organizations, from doing to inspiring, and from the Netherlands to Denmark. By integrating the knowledge of business administration with the psychological disciplines at INSEAD, I’ve a better understanding of people on a fundamental level and use this skill to create more effective organizations.
Awards
2017 Harry Bröstrom Award, Association of Internal Medicine, Sweden
2014 Knight in the order of the Dutch Lion, Netherlands
2009 Honorary Doctor of Medicine, Newcastle University, England
2008 Fellow Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities, Haarlem, Netherlands
2008 Visiting professor, Australian Society for Geriatric Medicine, Australia
2007 Member of the Dutch Health Research Council, The Hague, Netherlands
2004 Career profile: “Tying It Together.” Sci. Aging Knowl. Environ. 2004;9:nf23
2004 Personal profile. Lancet 2004;363:1334
1998 Siebold Medical Award, University of Nagasaki, Nagasaki, Japan
1996 IFCC-AVL award, Society for Laboratory Medicine, Utrecht, Netherlands
Life Time Bibliometric Output
Source |
Publications |
Citations |
h-index |
i10-index |
Science Citation Index |
>750 |
>45.000 |
>100 |
|
Google Scholar |
>1000 |
>70.000 |
>125 |
>500 |
For my peer reviewed publication list: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=westendorp+R.
Teaching activities
2015-now Professor of Medicine, faculty of health, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
2000-now Successfully supervised 50+ PhD students; four are appointed full professor
2000-2018 Professor of Medicine, Faculty of Health, University Leiden, Netherlands
2010-2015 Director Master Vitality and Ageing, University Leiden, Netherlands
2000-2018 Professor of Medicine, Faculty of Health, University Leiden, Netherlands
1993-2000 Associate Professor, Faculty of Health, University Leiden, Netherlands
Institutional Responsibilities
2015-2020. Co-director, Center for Healthy Ageing, Copenhagen University, Denmark
2012-2014 Director of the “VITALITY!-Program” of Medical Delta, Netherlands
2008-2014. Founding Director Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing, Leiden, Netherlands
2007-2014 Chairman National Program “Care for Older People”, Health Ministry, Netherlands
2007-2010 Founding Director of the “Netherlands Consortium of Healthy Ageing”
2004-2008 Founding Chairman Section of Geriatrics, Association of Internal Medicine, Netherlands
2000-2014 Head Department Gerontology and Geriatrics, University Hospital Leiden, Netherlands
Membership Reviewing Boards
2018-2021 Scientific Advisory Group, National Innovation Centre for Ageing, Newcastle, UK
2016-2020 Scientific Advisory Group, EU funded consortium SELFIE
2010-2019 Scientific Advisory Board, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research,Germany
2009-2014 Scientific Advisory Board, Center for Healthy Ageing, Copenhagen, Denmark
2009-2018 Scientific Advisory Board, Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, Netherlands
2009-2019 Editorial Board Age and Ageing
2004-2018 Editorial Board Aging Research Reviews
2003-2012 Editorial Board Journal of Experimental Gerontology
2000-2015 Editorial Board Netherlands Journal of Medicine
Ongoing Grants
“Harnessing the power of big data to address the societal challenge of ageing”
Principal-Investigator; 8 Mio Euro (2018-2024) Novo Nordisk Fonden, Hellerup, Denmark
“Center for Healthy Aging”
Co-Investigator; 10 Mio Euro (2019-2023) Nordea Fonden, Copenhagen, Denmark
We need a better understanding of human ageing to interfere in the psycho-social and bio-molecular process and prevent the occurrence of degenerative diseases. To this end we connect biological specimen with population registers, attracting excellent researchers, and using their complementary expertise to enablie people to live healthier for longer.
Data For Good Science is the communication platform for The Novo Nordisk Fonden Challenge research project “Harnessing the Power of Big Data to Address the Societal Challenge of Aging”. It comprises of three main components: science, data, and ethics.
The science
Babies born today are likely to live up to 100 years old. While this exceptional life expectancy is the result of various man-made innovations, modern medicine cannot prevent that large numbers of older persons end up in ill health with a decrease in quality of life. This personal challenge comes with increased societal costs and prompts a proactive attitude prioritizing on knowledge, prevention, and treatment.
Ageing is the most important single risk factor of various degenerative diseases but the underlying mechanisms has yet to be elucidated. Each of us age with a different pace and the underlying process varies depending on our genetic heritage and the environmental conditions in which we live. It explains why older persons look dissimilar, have diverse disease manifestations, and respond differently to medical treatments. Characterizing the ageing process among individuals will provide measurable leads and targets for better diagnosis, therapy, and prevention of age-related degenerative diseases.
The data
Over the past decades, there has been significant progress on establishing electronic patient records, high definition population registries, and linkage between these different sources of data. The techniques for handling and analysing large quantities of data have become mature using novel computational approaches. These major advancements provide a unique opportunity to better understand the ageing process and to instigate series of interventions to prevent and delay the occurrence of diseases.
Denmark has the advantage of having abundant data on the entire population as well as pathological specimens that go back to the beginning of the 20th century. Combining these exceptional sources will help identify different patterns of ageing among individuals. Such a national approach overcome typical pitfalls of surveys and cohort studies which are often held back by low participation rates particularly among the very healthy and severely diseased.
The ethics
The Danish registers are an unprecedented source for knowledge and understanding how to improve individuals’ lives. Substantial progress in understanding health and medical sciences is possible through a chain of information; yesterday’s citizens donated knowledge that benefit today’s citizens, and today’s patients donate knowledge for the good of tomorrow’s patients.
The use of personal data for research is only sustainable when it balances the rights and interests the individual with that of society as a whole. Scientific explorations of personal data should be carried out in such a way that the intrusion of people’s privacy is minimal and appropriate. The specimens and data will be examined as follows:
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Review › Research › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Research › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review