Désirée Van Der Heijde, MD, PhD, a Key Driver of Treatment Advances

Dr. van der Heijde (right) with her daughter Féline (left) visiting the world famous herb doctor, Dr. Ho (center), in the small village of Baisha, near Lijang, China, in 2010.

Fellows Will Follow

Dr. van der Heijde interspersed research with her doctoral training, finishing her PhD thesis in 1991 and her training in 1993. She then chose to continue research in the pharmaceutical arena, as a medical advisor in rheumatology at Kabi Pharmacia AB in Uppsala, Sweden. After a year, though, she realized, she says, that “it was not the best place for me,” and returned to academia in 1994, accepting Dr. van der Linden’s invitation to join his program and focus on spondylarthritis.

Maxime Dougados, MD, professor of rheumatology at René Descartes University and chair of the department of rheumatology at the Cochin Hospital in Paris, has devoted his research to outcome measures in the rheumatic diseases. He recalls foundational discussions in the early 1990s among a core group of AS experts (including Drs. van der Linden and van der Heijde) to convince the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to revisit its guidelines on conducting clinical trials in AS. “From the beginning,” he recalls, “we decided not to work as individuals proposing and elaborating our own outcome variables, but to work as a collaborative team.” Dr. van der Heijde’s talents for collaboration, he says, have been particularly valuable in this process. “She has an open mind, and from the start she not only looks at the first or proximal step, but is always anticipating the next steps. She’s a fantastic organizer, and has done very good work as president of ASAS,” says Dr. Dougados. “And at the same time, she is a very good trainer and professor. To be able to attract Désirée to your department, you know in advance that you will have plenty of fellows who will follow.”

Dr. Lie reported that initially she felt a bit daunted by the challenge of working with such an esteemed research scientist. “I really felt that I had to be prepared and tried to be my best during our discussions. But the way she has done her supervision has been very balanced. She would hear you out, and then come in with just the right amount of input to move the process further. She has a very efficient, but also very friendly way of supervising her PhD students.”

(Clockwise from top left) Dr. van der Heijde reaching the summit with Tore and Turid Kvien, her daughter Féline, and Féline’s boyfriend Lennart in the Norwegian mountains in 2011.

Versatile Collaborator

In 2007, Tore K. Kvien, MD, PhD, professor of rheumatology at the University of Oslo and head of the department of rheumatology at Diakonhjemmet Hospital, had heard that Dr. van der Heijde had moved from Maastricht to Leiden and invited her to become a senior researcher in his department. His main impetus for doing so: “Désirée is a very nice and collaborative person, supportive, extremely intelligent, and we felt it would be a great opportunity for her to help supervise research fellows.” His instincts have been borne out. For example, he says, Dr. van der Heijde has been “extremely important” for the development of the protocol in the Aiming for Remission in Rheumatoid Arthritis (ARCTIC) trial, an ongoing study headed by postdoc Espen A. Haavardsholm comparing conventional assessment and ultrasonography as treatment targets in RA.