Berent Prakken (MD, PhD)

Berent Prakken (MD, PhD) is vice-dean and director of the biomedical education centre at the Utrecht Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU), the Netherlands. He is also professor of pediatric immunology at the UMCU and honorary professor at the University of Ghent, Belgium. Prakken has built a translational research lab that focuses on regulation of inflammation and biomarker development in human in inflammatory diseases. He received numerous national and international awards and grants for his work. The work of his group is published in major international journals, including Nature Medicine, PNAS, Immunity, the Lancet, JCI and in various Nature journals. Over the years he has successfully mentored more than 40 PhD students. Prakken serves in various national and international research advisory boards and was member of the Dutch National Health Council (‘Gezondheidsraad’). He was vice-chair of Medical Ethical Review Board (IRB) of the UMCU. Prakken is president of the Pediatric Rheumatology European Society (PRES) and member of the EULAR executive committee. He is member of the steering committee of UCAN (international federation facilitating biological research in arthritis) and has set up the first international platform for biological studies in arthritis (UCAN-U, www.ucan-u.org). Prakken’s personal commitment is to training & education and to improve the impact of science. Unconventional thinking, collaboration and crossing boundaries inspire him, just as his close friendship with Salvo Albani, Norm Rosenblum and the other board members of Eureka. As co-founder and board member, Prakken enjoys the journey on which Eureka is taking them.