Specialization
Focus of research
Lidewij Henneman is professor of Patient Perspectives on Genetic Testing at the department of Human Genetics, Amsterdam UMC. She is head of the section Community Genetics and Public Health Genomics.
She is a member of the Health Council Committee Screening in Pregnancy and at Birth.
Her research interests focus on the impact of applications of new genetic technologies before, during and after pregnancy on individuals and society. Together with her research team, she investigates the perspectives and decisions of (potential) users to help align responsible implementation of genetic applications with community needs, employing both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies.
Areas of interest include: preconception carrier screening for recessive diseases, expansion of newborn bloodspot screening, and the use of next generation sequencing for prenatal and postnatal diagnosis of children with congenital conditions.
To set policy agendas and fill the gaps in patient care and support, the research is done in close collaboration with the patient organization Dutch Patient Alliance for Rare and Genetic Diseases (VSOP), relevant healthcare professionals, key (inter)national organizations, and other stakeholders in the field.
She is board member of the Dutch non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT) Consortium and coordinated research on women’s perspectives (TRIDENT studies), receiving the ZonMw Parel in 2023. She won the Societal Impact Award 2016 (topic NIPT), and received the Dutch Public Health Award (Volksgezondheidsprijs) for her PhD thesis on Preconceptional cystic fibrosis carrier screening.
She (co-)published over 170 international articles (H-index 37) and completed supervision of 18 PhD students/thesis.