Bastiaan Bloem - Biography#

Prof Bastiaan Bloem is consultant neurologist at the Department of Neurology, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. He received his medical degree, with honours, at Leiden University Medical Centre in 1993 and obtained his PhD degree in 1994. He received special training as movement disorder specialist during fellowships at The Parkinson's Institute, Sunnyvale, California and at Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London. In September 2008, he was appointed professor of movement disorder neurology.

Professor Bloem is on the editorial board for several national and international journals, and has published over 675 publications, including >510 peer-reviewed international papers. He is past president of the International Society for Gait and Postural Research. He recently became Officer (secretary-elect) for the Movement Disorder Society. From 2009 until September 2017, he was in the board of ZonMw (The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development). In 2011, he was elected the National Healthcare Hero by the Dutch Ministry of Health and Citizen of the Year for the City of Nijmegen in 2012. In 2017, he was appointed on the Executive Scientific Advisory Board of The Michael J Fox Foundation. In 2018, he was elected member of the “Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen”, the oldest Dutch scientific society.

In 2002, Professor Bloem founded and became medical director of the Parkinson Centre Nijmegen (ParC), which was recognised from 2005 onwards as a centre of excellence for Parkinson’s disease. He also developed ParkinsonNet, an innovative healthcare concept of 70 professional networks for Parkinson patients, covering all of The Netherlands (http://www.parkinsonnet.nl). Because of the evidence-based quality improvement and significant cost reduction, ParkinsonNet has received multiple awards, including Best Pearl for Healthcare Innovation prize in 2011. In 2015, ParkinsonNet was awarded with the Value-Based Health Care Prize.

Professor Bloem has two main research interests: cerebral compensatory mechanisms, especially for gait and balance; and healthcare innovation, aiming to develop and scientifically evaluate patient-centred collaborative care. He also values the publication of remarkable observations in single patients.