We are pleased to invite you to vote for this year’s Amsterdam UMC Societal Impact Award, where researchers who have made a significant societal impact are celebrated.
Among the three outstanding nominees are our very own Michèle van Vugt, Professor of Internal Medicine at Amsterdam UMC and topic leader Post-acute infection syndromes at the Amsterdam institute for Immunology and Infectious diseases (AI&I), and Brent Appelman, resident internal medicine and member of AI&I, together with Rob Wüst (AMS), whose groundbreaking work into post-covid is transforming our understanding and care for patients with long-term symptoms.
Alongside Michèle van Vugt, Brent Appelman, and Rob Wüst, other impressive nominees include Stijn Mom en Luc van Lonkhuijzen, whose commitment to HPV vaccination and cervical cancer prevention is making a real difference in women’s health, and Jurjen Luykx, whose pioneering work in inclusive and sustainable mental healthcare is shaping a greener and more equitable future for psychiatry.
All employees of Amsterdam UMC can help decide who will become the winner of the Societal Impact Award 2025. Participate? Please vote up until December 5th via the voting button below this page for one of the nominees.
(the nominees from left to right: Rob Wüst, Brent Appelman, Michèle van Vugt, Stijn Mom, Luc van Lonkhuijzen, Jurjen Luykx)
Michèle van Vugt, Brent Appelman and Rob Wüst
Long-covid: science and healthcare hand in hand
Amsterdam UMC plays a leading role in research on long covid. Together with Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Michèle van Vugt, Brent Appelman, and Rob Wüst study why patients with long covid become ill from physical exertion. Among other findings, the research shows that fatigue in long covid patients has a physical cause: the mitochondria in the skeletal muscles, which produce energy, function less effectively, causing exertion to lead to damage rather than recovery.
At Amsterdam UMC, research develops new insights into the biological mechanisms of this condition, with particular attention to muscle metabolism and immune disruptions. This knowledge is being directly translated into care through the establishment of specialized post-covid expertise clinics, where researchers, physicians, physiotherapists, and psychologists collaborate on integrated diagnostics and personalized treatment.
Through close collaboration with patient organizations, general practitioners, and (inter)national research networks, this initiative contributes to better recognition, scientific validation, and societal awareness of long-term post-infectious diseases. In doing so, Amsterdam UMC demonstrates how fundamental research and patient care together make a difference for the thousands of people who struggle daily with the consequences of long covid.
Luc van Lonkhuijzen and Stijn Mom
Cervical cancer can be prevented through HPV vaccination and screening
Luc van Lonkhuijzen and Stijn Mom, nominated by Cancer Center Amsterdam, are gynecologic oncologists at Amsterdam UMC. In their consultation rooms, they focus on treating women with cervical cancer. Outside the hospital, they are committed to preventing the disease.
In a recent study, they showed that among young women diagnosed with cervical cancer, the majority had not been vaccinated against HPV, even though they had been invited to do so through the National Immunization Program. This means that the cervical cancer in this group could have been prevented. The findings received widespread attention in national media. Stijn and Luc used this media coverage on radio, television and in newspapers to encourage parents to have their daughters and sons vaccinated against HPV. They also urged women to participate in cervical screening and to consult their general practitioner in case of irregular bleeding.
Jurjen Luykx
Inclusive and Sustainable (Mental) Healthcare
How can mental healthcare become fairer and more sustainable? This question drives the work of clinician-scientist Jurjen Luykx. His research connects three urgent themes: improving the inclusion of people with severe mental illness in research, making psychiatry environmentally sustainable, and disentangling how climate change affects mental wellbeing.
Luykx combines real-world data from everyday clinical practice with results from randomized controlled trials to reveal which patients are left out of research, and how that can be reimagined. Together with colleagues and people with lived experience, he develops strategies for greener psychiatry, from more sustainable medication use to climate-conscious hospitals. He is the lead author of Green Planet, Green Care, a widely read book that inspires healthcare workers and the wider public to rethink how care and sustainability can go hand in hand.
As chair of the Lancet Psychiatry Commission on Climate Change and Mental Health, Luykx leads a global effort to put mental health on the climate policy agenda—working toward care that supports both people and planet.
His work combines rigorous science with public engagement to turn insight into action - shaping a psychiatry that is inclusive, sustainable, and future-ready.
Please vote
To vote, you have to be logged in with your Amsterdam UMC account. You can only vote once and this is possible up and including the 5th of December. The winner will be announced at the New Year’s meeting on 8 January.
Vote
The votes of the employees of Amsterdam UMC will count for 50 percent in the final result. The other 50 percent consists of the judgement of an external jury: Anna van der Hulst (GGD Amsterdam), René Héman (KNMG) and Maarten Lindeboom (WRR).