Joost Ruitenberg - Biography#

In 2001 Dr. Ruitenberg was appointed professor of International Public Health in the department of Biology and Society. Born in 1937, Ruitenberg studied Veterinary Science and obtained his PhD from Utrecht University in 1970 and in the same year he was appointed Head of the Laboratory for Pathology at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). From 1980, as a director at the same institute, he was responsible for vaccine preparation, control and research. In 1986 he was appointed Vice-Director General.

From 1989 to 2001, Dr. Ruitenberg was General Director and Scientific Director for the Central Laboratory of the Blood Transfusion Service of the Dutch Red Cross (since 1998: CLB-Sanquin). He taught Veterinary Immunology as a professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Science at Utrecht University from 1984. He has been a member of the Royal Dutch Academy (KNAW) since 1985 and is also a member of the Royal Dutch Tropics Institute (KIT). Dr. Ruitenberg is Chairman of the Medical Committee of The Netherlands-Vietnam (MCNV) and the Vice Chairman of the Ghanaian-Dutch Health Research Program. The professorial chair of Science of International Public Health focuses on education and research within the field of Science, Technology and Society, in particular the relationship between biomedical sciences and society, and especially the strategies which are used to control infectious diseases in developing countries.