On June 12th 2025 our newest group of DCVA Leadership Program candidates started their program! During the recent start day, the fifteen selected participants met each other for the first time and were introduced to the advisory projects and stakeholders they will be working with over the coming months.
The group consists of fundamental researchers, clinicians, engineers, policy advisors, all eager to roll up their sleeves and get to work with complex problems that the DCVA partners encounter. Each topic will be assigned to the talents, who will work in groups on the topic of their preference during the 2-year program.
The five topics for this group are:
Mission Possible…?/! (Health~Holland): Exploring how the DCVA can align with the mission-driven health policy agenda by developing future care pathways for people with complex cardiovascular conditions.
Appropriate Care as the Norm (Dutch Kidney Foundation): Developing a method to assess whether dialysis care truly meets the individual needs of kidney patients.
Postmortem Diagnostics after Sudden Death (Dutch Society for Clinical Genetics): Designing effective ways to inform the public about the importance of postmortem diagnostics following unexpected cardiovascular deaths.
Centralization of Care (Dutch Society for Thoracic Surgery): Investigating if and how centralizing complex cardiovascular care can improve outcomes and reduce system pressure.
DCVA Alumni Ambassador Network (DCVA Talent Pillar): Creating a sustainable and engaging network model for alumni to stay involved and contribute to the DCVA’s mission.
So let's give a round of applause to our amazing leadership candidates! We can't wait to see all the incredible things they'll achieve as future ambassadors of the DCVA. Stay tuned for updates on their progress, and get ready to be inspired!
Amanda Foks
Dr. Amanda Foks is an Associate Professor at Leiden University, leading a research group at the LACDR’s department of BioTherapeutics. Her work focuses on age-associated immunity in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. With expertise in both clinical and preclinical models, she investigates adaptive immunity using advanced immunophenotyping techniques. Her goal is to identify new biomarkers and develop personalized treatments to reduce cardiovascular disease burden.
Anke Smits
Dr. Anke Smits is an Associate Professor in the Department of Cell and Chemical Biology at Leiden University Medical Center. Her research centers on cardiovascular cell biology, using cellular models and preclinical approaches to develop regenerative therapies for the injured heart. She aims to translate fundamental insights into innovative clinical applications for heart repair.
Bart Spronck
Dr. Bart Spronck is an Assistant Professor at Maastricht University’s CARIM institute. With a background in engineering, he studies arterial stiffening and hypertension, developing both experimental and computational models. Having worked at Yale and Macquarie University, he is actively involved in shaping clinical guidelines and contributes to several international cardiovascular societies.
Casper Mihl
Dr. Casper Mihl is a cardiovascular radiologist at Maastricht UMC+ and head of the CT unit. His clinical and research efforts focus on optimizing CT imaging protocols, particularly with new photon-counting CT technology. His work aims to enhance diagnostic accuracy in cardiac imaging, with special attention to arrhythmias and cardiomyopathies, and to ensure patient-centered applications in routine care.
Ferdi Akca
Dr. Ferdi Akca is a cardiothoracic surgeon at the Catharina Heart Center in Eindhoven. He specializes in coronary bypass surgery and developed the Endo-CAB, a minimally invasive, endoscopic bypass technique. His work combines research, training, and implementation to integrate this approach into standard clinical practice and improve surgical outcomes.
Gréanne Leeftink
Dr.ir. Gréanne Leeftink is an Associate Professor at the University of Twente and researcher at Isala hospital. She develops data-driven decision support tools for healthcare logistics and capacity planning. Her research bridges theoretical optimization and practical implementation in healthcare, aiming to improve efficiency while ensuring sustainable deployment of professionals.
Hans Breur
Dr. Hans Breur is a pediatric interventional cardiologist and Associate Professor at UMC Utrecht. His clinical and research focus lies in congenital heart disease and its long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes. He co-founded the Congenital Heart Disease Life Span Program, integrating follow-up from prenatal stages through adulthood in clinical care pathways.
Joost van der Vorst
Dr. Joost van der Vorst is a vascular and endovascular surgeon at Leiden University Medical Center, specializing in aortic pathology. He supervises multiple PhD projects related to surgical innovation and is a board member of the Dutch Society for Vascular Surgery. His work bridges clinical care and research with a focus on improving surgical outcomes.
Judith Bonnes
Dr. Judith Bonnes is a cardiologist and researcher at Radboudumc. Her clinical and research focus includes general cardiology and cardiovascular imaging, with specific attention to cardiac arrest and resuscitation. She investigates how innovative technologies can enhance and accelerate emergency care for patients with acute cardiac events.
Lex van Loon
Dr. Lex van Loon is a senior technical physician at UMC Utrecht and Assistant Professor at the University of Twente. He works on medical digital twins to support decision-making and device testing in acute care. With experience in space medicine and physiological modeling, he aims to reduce alarm fatigue and improve cardiovascular monitoring in critical care.
Mariëtte Boon
Dr. Mariëtte Boon is a physician specialized in obesity and senior researcher at Erasmus MC. Her translational research focuses on the relationship between obesity, stress, and cardiovascular diseases. She is also the medical coordinator of the Leefstijlzorgloket at Erasmus MC and contributes to the DCVA’s Prevention workgroup. In addition, she is co-author of the international bestseller VET Belangrijk (Fat: The Secret Organ), which explains the vital role of body fat in our health.
Nick van Es
Dr. Nick van Es is an internist at Amsterdam UMC specializing in vascular medicine. His research focuses on cardiovascular oncology, especially the effects of immune checkpoint inhibitors on atherosclerosis. He also works on improving prediction and treatment of cancer-associated thrombosis, building on his award-winning PhD research.
Nils Bömer
Dr. Nils Bömer is an Assistant Professor at UMC Groningen. His research focuses on heart failure and the role of nutrients like selenium and iron. He uses advanced human cardiac models and has received several national research grants. His work has contributed to policy changes, including updated national selenium intake recommendations.
Stefanie Hillebrand
Dr. Stefanie Hillebrand is a cardiologist at a large peripheral hospital, specializing in heart failure. She is dedicated to organizing efficient, patient-centered cardiovascular care, with a strong emphasis on collaboration with general practitioners. Her work focuses on ensuring that patients receive the right care in the right place, supporting sustainable healthcare and maintaining the high standards of Dutch cardiovascular services for the future.
Vincent Wiersma
Vincent Wiersma is Value, Access & Policy Manager Cardiovascular at Amgen Netherlands. He works to ensure patient access to innovative therapies and continuously explores how to measure and improve value in cardiovascular care. His focus lies in aligning health outcomes with sustainable access strategies.
