Baziel van Engelen - Biography#

Prof Baziel van Engelen is consultant neurologist at the Department of Neurology, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. He received his medical degree, at the Radboud University Medical Centre in 1983, his philosophy degree (MA) at the University of Amsterdam in 1985, and obtained his PhD degree in 1995. He received special training as a Research fellow at the Departments of Neurology and Immunology, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation, Rochester, Minnesota, USA. In 2003, he was appointed professor of neuromuscular disorders.

Professor van Engelen is reviewer for several national and international journals, and has published over 700 articles, including > 474 peer-reviewed international papers. He is past president of the European Neuromuscular Centre (ENMC) and the Dutch Neuromuscular Centre (ISNO). He recently became President of the scientific board of EURO-Dyma and is member of various scientific advisory boards: AFM-Telethon, in Italy, The muscular dystrophy association in the United Kingdom, FSH Global society in Australia. In 2015 he was elected member of Translational Neurology (European Academy of Neurology).

A license to treat is the main assignment of doctors. As an MD, while helping and treating diseased people I try to contribute to medical biology. Because the best way to understand the biological system is to treat/challenge it. As a PhD, I investigate human diseases as an “experiment of nature” and try to contribute to medical biology in order to be able to expand treatment possibilities in cure and care. Based on this, my contribution to medical science is twofold: 1. Novel treatment approaches and 2. Contribution to medical biology. Using this approach of bedside-to-bench translational research I focus on neuromuscular disorders. Starting from the individual patients’ clinical question, multidisciplinary research is performed with a wide array of other disciplines, from histology, genetics, cell biology, physiology, and imaging to psychology, rehabilitation, and health technology assessment. Ultimate goal is to understand the mechanisms of disease for optimal management and treatment of each specific patient, each with their own unique neuromuscular profile. The easy accessibility of the target tissue (muscle) enables to study general mechanisms of (neuro)degeneration.