Building bridges between the clinic and the lab has been Paul-Peter Tak’s main mission throughout his career.

{credit}Image credit: GSK{/credit}

What is your academic, research background?

My background is a mix of clinical medicine and research: two subjects that I think go hand-in-hand. Having a medical degree and a PhD gave me a strong position from which to build a career that spans these two fields.

During my medical training, I got more interested in research, and how to bridge that gap between clinical medicine and basic science. That gave me a springboard from which to get involved in translational science in immunology, rheumatology and geriatrics.

This translational approach has been the basis of my career ever since, which involved a spell doing research in the US and more than a decade at the Academic Medical Centre/University of Amsterdam – where I became Professor of Medicine and Chair of the Department of Clinical Immunology & Rheumatology; and was proud to be elected ‘Toparts’, the best rheumatologist in the Netherlands according to my peers. Continue reading →