Henri Versteeg is a professor of Thrombosis and Haemostasis and member of the management team of the Department of Internal Medicine at the Leiden University Medical Center. He is the recipient of a number of prestigious grants and awards, based on his work on cancer and blood coagulation, such as an NWO-VENI and an NWO-VIDI grant.

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Henri Versteeg is a professor of Thrombosis and Haemostasis and member of the management team of the Department of Internal Medicine at the Leiden University Medical Center. He is the recipient of a number of prestigious grants and awards, based on his work on cancer and blood coagulation, such as an NWO-VENI and an NWO-VIDI grant.

Cancer and blood clotting

In cancer patients, blood clotting is hyper-activated leading to increased risk of venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism (collectively referred to as VTE). VTE reduces quality of life, may interrupt cancer treatment and is the second leading cause of death in cancer patients. As it is currently unclear which biological processes induce VTE in cancer patients, it is impossible to predict which cancer patients should be treated with anticoagulants to prevent VTE. Therfore Versteeg aims to unravel which biological factors impact cancer-associated  VTE and develop tools to predict which cancer patients have an increased risk of VTE. 

Conversely, hyper-activation of the blood clotting system also promotes cancer progression. Tumor cells express blood clotting proteins that prime tumors to grow and disseminate but the mechanisms that dictate coagulation-dependent cancer progression are ill-defined. Therefore Versteeg endeavours to uncover the role of blood clotting in cancer, with specific focus on the molecular and cellular mechanisms.

Academic career

Versteeg received an MSc degree in biology at Utrecht University and successfully finished his PhD studies at the University of Amsterdam, with a thesis entitled; He continued his research on blood coagulation and cancer, first at the Scripps Research Institute and subsequently at  Leiden University Medical Center. In 2015, he was appointed full professor in Thrombosis and Haemostasis. The title of his inaugural speech was 'Over bloedbanen en bloedbaden' (Dutch).

Versteeg has published more than 100 scientific research papers, review papers and editorials in journals such as Nature Medicine, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, Circulation Research and Blood. He is a member of several selection committees among which those for the NWO-VENI, NWO-VIDI and Agence National de Recherche programs. He was also a member of selection commitees for international congresses, e.g. those of International Society of Thrombosis and Hemostasis and the American Society of Hematology. He has also served in international advisory boards.

Currently, Versteeg is the Editor-in-chief of ‘Thrombosis Research and an editorial board member of ‘Carcinogenesis’ and ‘Journal of Visualized Experiments’.

Prizes and honourable appointments

Henri Versteeg is the recipient of a number of presigious grants and awards such as an NWO Talent stipendium, an NWO-VENI grant and an NWO-VIDI grant. Hij has also received the Novo Nordisk Haemostasis Award and the Marie Parijs award for excellent translational research.

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