- Promotor
- Co-promotor
- Date
- Tuesday 17 Mar 2020, 13:30 - 15:00
- Type
- PhD defence
- Space
- Senate Hall
- Building
- Erasmus Building
- Location
- Campus Woudestein
On Tuesday 17 March 2020, N.Z. Borren will defend her PhD dissertation, entitled: ‘Quality of Life in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. When IBD goes beyond the gut’.
This thesis aimed to provide more insight into clinical and biological factors influencing the quality of life of Inflammatory Bowel Disease patients. As clinicians and researchers, we tend to focus more on disease specific symptoms and objective disease markers and less on the quality of life which is one of the most important outcomes for patients. Therefore, little knowledge regarding determinants of quality of life are available and much remains unknown. In particular the pathophysiology of subjective symptoms such as fatigue, sleep and mood and their relation to IBD is unclear. This thesis started with exploring the current knowledge of the disabling symptom of fatigue in IBD patients followed by the assessment of the effect of new biological therapies on psychosocial symptoms such as fatigue, sleep and mood. The last part of this thesis used newly developed research technologies, known as ‘omics research, to investigate the underlying mechanism of fatigue in IBD and to identify the impact of family history on the natural history of IBD.
The public defence will take place at the Senatehall, 1st floor of the Erasmus Building, Campus Woudestein. The ceremony will begin exactly at 13.30 hrs. In light of the solemn nature of the ceremony, we recommend that you do not take children under the age of 6 to the first part of the ceremony.