Frits Rosendaal is professor of Clinical Epidemiology and chair of the department of Clinical Epidemiology in the LUMC. His research is into causes of cardiovascular disease. In 2003 he received the Spinoza prize, the highest scientific award in the Netherlands. He is elected fellow of the Royal Academy of Science and Arts, as well as of the German Academy Leopoldina. In 2011 he was awarded a honorary doctorate of the University of Paris Descartes. He is Editor in Chief of Research Integrity and Peer Review and of the Geneesmiddelenbulletin, vice-chair of the Central Committee of Research on Humans (CCMO), member of the Committee on publication ethics (COPE), chair of the Research Integrity policy group of the LERU universities, and co-chair of the Scientific Integrity Committee of the University Leiden and the LUMC. He also teaches at the Universita degli Studi di Milano in Milan, Italy.

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Frits Rosendaal is professor of Clinical Epidemiology and chair of the department of Clinical Epidemiology in the LUMC. His research is into causes of cardiovascular disease. In 2003 he received the Spinoza prize, the highest scientific award in the Netherlands. He is elected fellow of the Royal Academy of Science and Arts, as well as of the German Academy Leopoldina. In 2011 he was awarded a honorary doctorate of the University of Paris Descartes. He is Editor in Chief of Research Integrity and Peer Review and of the Geneesmiddelenbulletin, vice-chair of the Central Committee of Research on Humans (CCMO), member of the Committee on publication ethics (COPE), chair of the Research Integrity policy group of the LERU universities, and co-chair of the Scientific Integrity Committee of the University Leiden and the LUMC. He also teaches at the Universita degli Studi di Milano in Milan, Italy.

Cardiovascular disease

The department of Clinical Epidemiology studies causes of diseases, optimal treatment strategies and complications of treatment in humans. This includes research into causes, prevention and treatment of thrombosis (blood clots, as in deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism and myocardial infarction), the optimal treatment of haemophilia, and into diseases associated with overweight and obesity, such as diabetes. The programme encompasses studies into genetic causes of disease, studies of side effects of drugs such as oral contraceptives, and randomised studies of treatment effects.

Definitive conclusions on causes of disease or effects of treatment in humans can only be reached by studies in people. However, people are all different, have different genes, different habits and a different life style. This has to be taken into account in the research by choosing the optimal study design, and using the appropriate statistical techniques. The research of the department of Clinical Epidemiology, usually performed in collaboration with clinical departments, therefore usually includes hundreds or thousands of individuals. The department has strong methodological expertise and advises others on methodology.

Academic career

Frits Rosendaal studied medicine at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam and obtained his medical degree with honours in 1985. In 1989 he obtained his PhD at Leiden University, with Prof.  Ernest Briët as promotor. He was appointed as professor of Clinical Epidemiology in 1997, and became head of the department in 1999. From 2007 to 2010 he also chaired the department of Thrombosis and Haemostasis.

His research is mainly focused on causes of cardiovascular disorders. He initiated and led several epidemiological studies, such as LETS and MEGA, in which a large number of causes of thrombosis were discovered, such as Factor V Leiden.  An important finding was that some oral contraconceptives, notably those from the 3^rd generation, were associated with an excess risk of venous thrombosis. He takes part in several large international consortia that search for genetic causes of several frequent disorders. He also led the national Hemophilia in the Netherlands projects. He initiated the NEO-study (Netherlands Epidemiology of Obesity) in which 6700 individuals with overweight have been extensively examined and are followed through time.

Prizes and honourable appointments

Frits Rosendaal received several prestigious awards, such as the C.J. Kokprijs from Leiden University (1993), the Millennium Prize from the Universiteit of Trondheim, Norway (1999), de CARIM prize of the University of Maastricht (2002), de Spinozaprijs (2002), the Sol Sherry Award of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (2003), the Distinguished Career Award of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (2005), the Ham-Wasserman lecture of the American Society of Hematology (2005), and an honorary doctorate from the University of Paris Descartes. He is elected fellow of the Royal Academy of Science and Arts (2008) and of the German Academy Leopoldina (2011).

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