R. (Rintje) Agricola MD PhD

Introduction

Clinically and scientifically, I am dedicated in identifying risk factors and optimizing treatments for hip diseases from children to elderly in a personalized way. Driven by my tremendous curiosity after my master thesis, I started my academic career as a PhD student in 2010. I studied the development of hip morphology in adolescents and the relationship between hip morphology and development of osteoarthritis. In 2015 I received my PhD ‘cum laude’. After my PhD I remained highly fascinated in doing research and continued this line of research during my clinical training in orthopaedic surgery. During this time, I was fortunate to perform fellowships in Oxford (UK), Doha (Qatar) and Melbourne (Australia). With the continuation of my research projects and with the grants received, I was able to build my own, independent and previously non-existing research line on hip morphology development and hip osteoarthritis. I was invited for >50 key note lectures, have published >80 international peer-reviewed scientific articles and participation in various international consensus meetings.

I am currently supervising 10 PhD students on projects related to the development of the hip and its risk of developing osteoarthritis.

One of the projects I am particularly proud of is the initiation of the World COACH consortium. This consortium is unique because it includes all prospective cohort studies (n=9) on hip osteoarthritis worldwide. My motivation for this consortium is to identify patient specific risk factors for hip osteoarthritis through collaboration with international partners. The outcomes of this project will largely influence society as osteoarthritis is forecasted to become the most prevalent disease in the Netherlands by 2040.

Education and career

After my medical studies, I started as a PhD student at the department of Orthopedic Surgery, Erasmus University Medical Center in 2010. In 2015 I received my PhD ‘cum laude’ and at that time I already started my clinical residency in Orthopedic Surgery. This included a 1.5 years training in general surgery, followed by a 4.5 years training in orthopaedic surgery. In my final year of training I specialized in hip surgery. During my clinical training I was able to continue my research on hip development and hip osteoarthritis and was fortunate to receive several prestigious grants, including project based grants from the Dutch Arthritis Foundation and personal grants including a VENI talent scheme grant and Erasmus MC fellowship grant.

I am currently leading a research group with 10 PhD students on projects related to the development of the hip and its risk of developing osteoarthritis. Since 2020, I was appointed as a scientific researcher at the department of Orthopedic Surgery and Sports medicine at Erasmus University Medical Center and also work as an Orthopedic Surgeon in the Anna Hospital.