Erik Buskens

Prof. Erik Buskens is a Professor of Population Health Management at the University of Groningen's Faculty of Medical Sciences, affiliated with the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG). He holds dual roles in the Department of Epidemiology and the Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health, where he serves as interim Scientific Director. His expertise spans Public Health, Health Technology Assessment, and healthcare policy, focusing on economic evaluation, ethical/legal issues, and implementation strategies for medical innovations. Prof. Buskens has supervised numerous PhD students and contributed over 200 peer-reviewed publications (Google Scholar h-index 67). He leads national and EU initiatives, including the Healthwise consortium and the Joint Programming Initiative on Active and Healthy Ageing. Key roles include membership in the Dutch Society for Technology Assessment in Health Care (NVTAG), the National Health Care Institute’s Quality Board, and advisory roles in healthcare innovation and prevention policy.

Education: MD/PhD from Erasmus University Rotterdam (1994), postdoctoral training at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (1999). Career milestones include Program Director for Healthy Ageing (2009–2015) and leadership in cross-faculty research/education programs. His work addresses healthcare system resilience, telemonitoring scalability, and chronic disease management.

Research Interests: Health systems optimization, cost-effectiveness of stroke care pathways, device-aided therapies for Parkinson’s disease, and global health challenges like climate change impacts on healthcare. Recent efforts include modeling acute stroke treatment workflows and evaluating telehealth programs (Citrien 2 initiative).

Articles Trends: Focus on stroke care economics (e.g., CT perfusion cost-effectiveness, endovascular thrombectomy protocols) and Parkinson’s device therapies. Also explores systemic issues like informal care costs, tobacco control in Mongolia, and healthcare accessibility in rural areas.

Awards: Second prize in the Hackathon ‘Meer gezonde jaren’ (2023) for innovative health prevention solutions. Recognized for leadership in health technology assessment and policy.

Grants & Advising: Secured NWO grants for joint UMCG-LUMC projects. Oversees €4M+ in collaborative funding. Advises on EU health initiatives, prevention policy, and healthcare innovation boards (e.g., ZonMw, Accare Child Psychiatry).

Labs/Teams: Leads Value, Affordability and Sustainability (VALUE) research group at UMCG. Collaborates with interdisciplinary teams in epidemiology, health economics, and clinical innovation. Active in the CLEOPATRA and CONTRAST consortia for stroke care research.