"The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the importance of keeping track of the circulation of respiratory viruses, including RSV, through surveillance. We want to contribute to this with a European RSV surveillance bulletin to facilitate an overview of RSV activity in Europe. The bulletin will also focus on specific age groups, such as infants, toddlers and the elderly and RSV type."
Jojanneke van Summeren is a postdoc researcher working at the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (Nivel) In Utrecht, the Netherlands. Her work in PROMISE is mainly focussed on WP2, more specifically in the development of a Fortnightly European RSV surveillance bulletin.
WHAT STARTED YOUR SCIENTIFIC VOCATION?
During the 2-year research program to obtain my master’s degree in human movement sciences, I became interested in research on improving the quality of life, physical activity and physical fitness in children with chronic conditions. This led me to begin my doctoral research on the management of childhood functional constipation in primary care. My main research project was about studying the (cost)-effectiveness of physiotherapy for the treatment of children with functional constipation in primary care. On May 9 of this year, I successfully defended my dissertation and received the doctoral degree. During my PhD, I followed an individual training program to obtain registration as an epidemiologist B of the Epidemiological Society in the Netherlands.Since November 2019, I have been working at Nivel in the Netherlands, with a main focus on the epidemiology and disease burden of RSV. I am the international study coordinator of the RSV ComNet study, investigating the burden of disease of RSV infections in young children in primary care in six European countries.
WHAT IS YOUR AREA OF EXPERTISE?
The common thread in my research is conducting studies in primary care with an epidemiological focus. I think it’s important to do research to improve the care for people who are sick. What I enjoy most is studying the burden of disease, both clinically and economically, and investigating new treatments that might reduce the disease burden. Importantly, the burden of disease in primary care should not be forgotten here. More recently, I have been involved in infectious disease surveillance.
HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN PROMISE?
Since the Introduction of the non-pharmacological Interventions (NPI) to control COVID-19, RSV activity In Europe has been limited. For the RSV ComNet project, we were in the recruitment phase of children with RSV at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. To prepare European countries for a next RSV epidemic, we have investigated what could be expected in the upcoming summer and autumn/winter (2021/22). Therefore, we have investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and NPIs on RSV activity in Europe. For these analyses we have used routinely collected surveillance data. Through this research, the importance of RSV surveillance became very clear to me and that’s how I became involved in PROMISE.
WHAT IS YOUR ROLE IN THE PROJECT?
Together with the team I am working on the development of a Fortnightly European RSV surveillance bulletin. Therefore, we are setting up a platform to collect routinely collected RSV data from European Public Health Institutes. I am one of the researchers responsible for the day-to-day activities. Currently, we are working on the outline of the bulletin, preparing data sharing agreements, and organizing meetings with public health Institutes.
WHICH MAIN CHALLENGE ARE YOU CONTRIBUTING TO ADDRESS?
The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the importance of keeping track of the circulation of respiratory viruses, including RSV, through surveillance. We want to contribute to this with a European RSV surveillance bulletin to facilitate an overview of RSV activity in Europe. The bulletin will also focus on specific age groups, such as infants, toddlers and the elderly and RSV type.
WHAT IMPACT WILL THESE OUTCOMES HAVE?
One of the aims of PROMISE is to have a robust surveillance platform which can be used to monitor seasonal RSV disease burden and expected impact on communities and national healthcare systems. In addition, this platform might be used in the future to monitor the impact of (new) therapeutic and preventive interventions including immunisation against RSV.
THINKING ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE IN PROMISE, WHAT LEARNINGS WILL YOU TAKE AWAY FROM YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THE PROJECT?
It is very valuable to be involved in PROMISE as an early career researcher. Over the past year, I have met many inspiring people from different backgrounds, all with a common goal: to improve our knowledge of RSV. This made me realize the added value of interdisciplinary collaboration. I look forward to seeing all the results of the studies conducted in PROMISE in the coming years.
“Over the past year, I have met many inspiring people from different backgrounds, all with a common goal: to improve our knowledge of RSV. This made me realize the added value of interdisciplinary collaboration”.
