Willeke van Roon-Mom is a full professor of Human Genetics, in particular of translational studies of neurodegenerative disorders. She is vice-president of the Biomedical Sciences Masters Examination Board, board member of the Medical Genomics Research Theme, co-director of the Dutch Center for RNA Therapeutics (DCRT), I have been an active member of the European Huntington’s Disease Network, act on the Scientific and Bioethics Advisory Board of the EHDN and the Dutch Brain Foundation (Hersenstichting) and am elected core-member of the international Ataxia Advisory Committee for Therapeutics. Furthermore, I am board member of the Dutch HD Research Network.

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Willeke van Roon-Mom is a full professor of Human Genetics, in particular of translational studies of neurodegenerative disorders. She is vice-president of the Biomedical Sciences Masters Examination Board, board member of the Medical Genomics Research Theme, co-director of the Dutch Center for RNA Therapeutics (DCRT), I have been an active member of the European Huntington’s Disease Network, act on the Scientific and Bioethics Advisory Board of the EHDN and the Dutch Brain Foundation (Hersenstichting) and am elected core-member of the international Ataxia Advisory Committee for Therapeutics. Furthermore, I am board member of the Dutch HD Research Network.

Human Genetics

Willeke van Roon-Mom’s work is highly translational in nature, working in close collaboration with clinical departments and industry. Unique patient-driven fund raising initiatives contribute not only financial input, but also patient perspective to research programs in her group. The main topic of her research is autosomal dominant neurodegenerative diseases that have aberrant protein aggregation as a pathological hallmark. She studies molecular disease mechanisms, identifies biomarkers and then uses this knowledge to develop novel therapies with a focus on RNA targeting antisense oligonucleotide therapies. With this chair she will apply her expertise in the development of therapies for more common brain disorders, to rare and ultra-rare disorders. Her research is part of the LUMC research themes Neuroscience, Medical Genomics, Cell Tissue and Organs as well as Academic Pharma. The applicable NWA routes are regenerative medicine, personalised medicine, NeuroLabNL and health research, prevention and treatment.

Academic career

Willeke van Roon-Mom is a full professor of Human Genetics, in particular of translational studies of neurodegenerative disorders. She studied Medical Biology at the Rijksuniversiteit in Groningen, and obtained her PhD in October 2004  at the University of Auckland in New Zealand studying protein interactions in Huntington disease. After a Post Doc in New Zealand, she returned to the Netherlands to work at the Human Genetics department at the Leiden University Medical Center where she started her own research group. She is the co-founder and co-lead of the Dutch Center for RNA Therapeutics that aims to develop RNA targeting therapies for patients with ultra-rare mutations. She was appointed professor on October 1 2021 with her oration on March 28 2022.