Bastiaan R Bloem

Professor Bas Bloem is a consultant neurologist at the Department of Neurology, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. He received his medical degree, with honours, at Leiden University Medical Centre in 1993 and obtained his PhD degree in 1994. He trained as a neurologist between 1994 and 2000, also at Leiden University Medical Centre. He received additional training as a movement disorders specialist during fellowships at The Parkinson's Institute, Sunnyvale, California, and at the Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London. In September 2008, he was appointed professor of neurology, with movement disorders as special area of interest.

Professor Bloem is on the editorial board for several national and international journals and has published over 1,100 publications, including more than 940 peer-reviewed international papers. This includes a series of large clinical trials, all of which were published in high-end scientific journals. He has also supervised 75 successfully completed PhD dissertations, seven of which with the cum laude (with honours) distinction. His H-index is 107 (Web of Science) / 126 (ResearchGate) / 140 (Google Scholar). According to Expertscape, he is the world’s top-rated expert in the past decade in the field of Parkinson’s disease (https://expertscape.com/ex/parkinson+disease). He is ranked among the top 1% of most cited scientists of the past 10 years (https://bit.ly/3QOFHEw).

Professor Bloem is past president of the International Society for Gait and Postural Research. He is also a past-Officer (Secretary) for the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society. From 2009 until September 2017, he was part of the board of ZonMw (The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development). In 2011, he was elected the National Healthcare Hero by the Dutch Ministry of Health and Citizen of the Year for the city of Nijmegen in 2012. From 2017 to 2022, he served on the Executive Scientific Advisory Board of The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. In 2018, he was elected as member of the “Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen” (the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities), the oldest scientific society in the Netherlands. In 2018, he won the Tom Isaacs award as a recognition of his longstanding achievements in the field of Parkinson’s disease. Also in 2018, he was elected as member of the Academia Europaea. In 2019, he was elected as Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. In 2020, he was elected as member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 2023 as fellow of the European Academy of Neurology. Also in 2020, he became co-Editor in Chief of the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease. In 2021, he was appointed as one of six national ambassadors for the new ambitious Dutch brain program “Hoofdzaken” (ZonMw, Hersenstichting). Bloem is also co-founder and board member of the Dutch Parkinson Scientists. In 2022, he received the Stevin prize, the highest recognition for a Dutch scientist who has had the greatest impact on society. In April 2024, following a nomination by persons with Parkinson’s disease, he was appointed as Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion, which is the highest royal distinction in The Netherlands. In October 2024, he received the Joannes Juda Groen award as recognition for his lifelong interdisciplinary research work.

In 2002, Professor Bloem founded and became director of the Radboudumc Centre of Expertise for Parkinson & Movement Disorders, which was recognised from 2005 onwards as a centre of excellence for Parkinson’s disease. Together with Dr Marten Munneke, he also developed ParkinsonNet, an innovative healthcare concept that now consists of 70 professional networks for Parkinson patients, covering all of The Netherlands (www.parkinsonnet.nl). Because of the evidence-based quality improvement and significant cost reduction, ParkinsonNet has received multiple awards, including the Best Pearl for Healthcare Innovation prize in 2011. In 2015, ParkinsonNet was awarded with the Value-Based Health Care Prize and in 2021 with the Value-Based Health Care Inspirational Award.

Professor Bloem has two main research interests: cerebral compensatory mechanisms, especially in the field of gait and balance; and healthcare innovation, aiming to develop and scientifically evaluate patient-centred collaborative care. More recently, his work is also beginning to focus on wearable sensors, machine learning and artificial intelligence. In his latest work, he also focuses on prevention of Parkinson’s disease, with emphasis on eradication of environmental toxins, and use of lifestyle interventions. Bloem also values the publication of remarkable observations in single patients.