Biography

Hanneke Willemen is a neuro-immunologist at the University Medical Center Utrecht. She obtained her MSc degree at Wageningen University and completed her PhD at Utrecht University. During her doctoral research, she focused on unraveling the perturbed molecular pathways that drive chronic pain and identifying novel therapeutic targets. Her work revealed that the nervous system closely communicates with the immune system, and that mitochondrial and metabolic alterations in neurons are strongly linked to chronic pain.

With the support of prestigious Veni and Vidi fellowships from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), she continued her research into neurometabolism and chronic pain—conditions that are also highly prevalent in post-acute infectious syndromes (PAIS), including post-COVID.

Currently, she works as PI of the Neuro-Immunology Group at UMC Utrecht, where she investigates several PAIS conditions. Together with her collaborators, she recently demonstrated that neuroinflammation is increased in post-COVID patients and that autoimmunity may underlie sensory-related symptoms. In addition, she is co-PI of a pediatric post-COVID biobank study, which aims to unravel the pathophysiological mechanisms in children with post-COVID—a population that remains underrepresented in research. She is passionate about interdisciplinary collaboration and enjoys working across disciplines to address complex societal challenges. She has led an interdisciplinary team for several years with financial support from the Center for Unusual Collaborations (CuCO).