Frits Rosendaal - Biography#

Frits Rosendaal studied medicine in Rotterdam, and obtained a PhD in Leiden. For many years, he worked in the field of blood coagulation. He initiated several epidemiological studies that resulted in the discovery of a large number of novel causes of thrombosis, such as Factor V Leiden, prothrombin 20210A, high levels of FVIII, FIX, FXI. Since 1985, he leads the national haemophilia project in the Netherlands (HIN). The search for causes of disease also led to side-effects of medicines as such causes. This started with a publication in the 1990s on short-acting calciumantagonists increasing the risk of myocardial infarction, followed by the finding that various types of oral contraceptives were less safe than others with regard to venous thrombosis, and recently that certain coagulation concentrates used in haemophilia treatment had an excess of complications. In this line he now also studies the increasing use of opioids in society.

In 2008, he started a new research line on obesity-associated disorders, by assembling a large cohort of overweight middle-aged individuals, in a consortium with basic and clinical researchers with a focus on liver fat, visceral fat, and sex-differences in disease vulnerability, particularly with regard to type II diabetes.

In 2012, he became the first chair of a standing Committee on Scientific Integrity of the LUMC, and then co-chair of the merged committees of the LUMC and Leiden University. He also became member, and since 2022 chairman, of the Policy Group on Research Integrity of the League of European Research Universities (LERU) and of the Council of the Committee on Publication Ethics. Recently, he has attracted several researchers to start a research line in this area.

Since 2020, as an epidemiologist, he has become heavily involved in activities around Covid-19. This includes research, such as vaccine studies, as well as projections of disease development for the hospital and the region, but also coordination tasks for national collaborative research by chairing committees that prioritise research from all Dutch academic medical centres, and directly advise the Ministry of Health on new therapies.