Marjo S. van der Knaap (born 9 May 1958) is a Dutch professor of pediatric neurology at

VU University Amsterdam The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research ...

and the

VU University Medical Center VU University Medical Center Amsterdam ( nl, VU Medisch Centrum or VUmc) is the university hospital affiliated with the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. It is rated one of the best academic medical centers in the country in terms of patient care and ...

. She was a winner of the 2008

Spinoza Prize The Spinoza Prize ( nl, Spinozapremie) is an annual award of 2.5 million euro, to be spent on new research given by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The award is the highest scientific award in the Netherlands. It is named after the philosopher ...

. Her research focuses on

white matter White matter refers to areas of the central nervous system (CNS) that are mainly made up of myelinated axons, also called tracts. Long thought to be passive tissue, white matter affects learning and brain functions, modulating the distribution ...

disorders.

Early life and education

Van der Knaap was born on 9 May 1958 in

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

. In 1984 she obtained a cum laude degree in medicine from

Erasmus University Rotterdam Erasmus University Rotterdam (abbreviated as ''EUR'', nl, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam ) is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century humanist ...

. She continued her PhD studies and graduated cum laude in 1991 from

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

's department of pediatric neurology, while also collaborating with the department of neuroradialogy of

Career and research

In 1999, she became professor of pediatric neurology at VU University Amsterdam. Van der Knaap's research focuses on

disorders. In the 1980s she started working with

Magnetic resonance imaging Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio wave ...

(MRI), of which she stated it is pivotal for her work. In the field, she developed a computer-guided recognition system for known diseases. She discovered five diseases, one of which was named after her, although she did not find that necessary. She was involved with the discovery of vanishing white matter in the 1990s, in 2014 she said that a treatment based on

stem cell transplantation Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells, usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood in order to replicate inside of a patient and to produce ...

is coming closer. In 2008, she was one of four winners of the Dutch

and received a 1,5 million euro grant. Van der Knaap stated to spend the money on developing treatment for white matter disorders. With the money she founded a stem cell laboratory at the VU University Amsterdam. Van der Knaap became a member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

in 2010.

References

External links

Profile on NARCIS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knaap, Marjo van der 1958 births Living people Dutch neurologists Erasmus University Rotterdam alumni Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Pediatric neurologists People from Delft Spinoza Prize winners Utrecht University alumni Academic staff of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Dutch women physicians 21st-century Dutch physicians 21st-century women physicians