A personal touch of Inge van Oort

27 February 2019

My name is Inge van Oort and I am Dutch. I am oncological urologist, Dept. of Urology, theme Urological cancers.

When you were a kid what did you want to be when you grew up? Can you tell us something about your child years. 

As a child I wanted to be a pastry chef. I grew up in Groningen as the eldest of 3. My father was a dentist at the university hospital and my mother was a very active stay at home mom. I did gymnastics and trained up to 15 hours a week until sport injuries forced me to stop. After that I still was involved in lots of other sports. One of them being a statistician of the professional Basketballclub Donar in Groningen. School was okay, loved being around friends but had to workhard for my grades. Unfortunately I had to leave Groningen after my study but still visit this town frequently for family visits.

What was your previous academic training, where did you study and why that study? 

I studied Medicine at the University of Groningen, and after that urology at the CWZ and Radboudumc in Nijmegen. I studied medicine because (real cheesy) I wanted to cure patients (and of course find “the” treatment for cancer). Urology because that is the best versatile surgical specialism there is, where you do a lot of diagnosing yourself (i.e. ultrasound, cystoscopy) then the surgical treatment or systemic treatment and see the patients for years in follow-up. After years you really get to know these patients and their family and that is very valuable.

The RIMLS motto is: ‘Today’s molecules for tomorrow’s medicine’. What does this mean for you? 

This means that the research we do should lead to use in clinical practice because that’s the aim I have as a clinician.

Who is your great example as scientists? And please give a motivation why.

My biggest inspiration as a scientist is Jack Schalken. He was the one who got me interested in urological research. His drive and motivation for urological science is inspirational and although he’s not a clinician he always thinks of research that can help the clinician and the patient. So a really good example of a scientist who thinks and works from bench to bedsite.  

Which research discovery that you have made has made you most proud? 

Both the PCA3 and the select MDx urine test who are now used in clinical practice in urology all over the world makes me proud as a scientist. 

Given unlimited finance what experiment would you perform?

Then I would sequence all my prostate cancer patients to get more insight in the best treatment options for personalized treatment.

What does your working area (desk, office) look like and what does it say about you (or your research)? 

It is clean, organised with a touch of personal stuff. And that is exactly what my research is!

Nominate a colleague to be in the spotlight and what would you like to ask him or her?

Nielka van Erp, clinical Pharmacologist. What do we (clinicians) have to know about pharmacology?

What type of person are you, quick insights:

a) Mac or PC?                                : Mac
b) Theater or cinema?                 : Cinema
c) Dine out or dine in?                 : Dine out
d) Ferrari or Fiat?                         : Porsche
e) Shopaholic or chocoholic?     : Shopaholic
f) Culture or Nature                     : Nature

• Want to know more about these subjects? Click on the buttons below for more news.

  Pathology