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I am Edith Cup, and I was born on May 6th 1966 in Venray.
Currently I am head of the occupational therapy team and senior researcher in the department of Rehabilitation, theme Disorders of movement.
Where do you live and with whom?
I live in Molenhoek with my husband and our two daughters, and with two goats grazing in our garden meadow.
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 kid, I did not know what profession I would like to do. I loved to dance (classical ballet), played hockey and I liked to be creative. The sewing machine was always out in our living room and my mum taught me how to sew. There was a creative atmosphere and I was never bored.
Allied health care (physical therapy or dietetics) had my interest, but when I visited the school for occupational therapy in Hoensbroek, I decided I wanted to become an occupational therapist (OT).
What was your previous academic training, where did you study and why did you choose that study/those studies?
After my training as an OT, I went to England for a year and a half. I came back to start working at Radboudumc. A few years later I started to study human movement sciences at the VU in Amsterdam to better understand why, how and what makes people move. It was quite a challenge to combine work in Nijmegen with a fulltime study in Amsterdam. When Maastricht University started a part-time study movement sciences (part of health sciences), I switched to Maastricht. A good choice, as I met a great group of allied health professionals who like myself were eager to study questions from our clinical practice.
Which of your research discoveries are you most proud of?
When I was doing my PhD on allied health care for people with neuromuscular disorders, I wanted to understand and learn from people with myotonic dystrophy and their partners how this disease affected their lives. I interviewed couples about their daily life experiences. The article was published in the week before my PhD defense. The day before my defense, the chair of the diagnostic working group of patients with MD1 phoned me and said that reading the article for him was like looking into the mirror. That made me proud.
What is your most important scientific challenge in the coming 5 years?
Occupational therapy has a young scientific research tradition. More scientific work is needed to provide occupational therapy with a firm scientific base. My most important challenge is to develop and test outcome measures and interventions to manage fatigue in daily life for people with a chronic disease.
If you could choose any mentor, who would it be?
I have multiple mentors from different scientific perspectives, including OT, rehabilitation, neurology and methodology. I hope to learn more about new research designs such as the realist method and randomized, multiple-baseline single-case studies. For the latter I would like to choose my physical therapy research colleague Thomas Hoogeboom to be my mentor, for his knowledge on this subject and his sense of humor.
What is your favorite topic: molecules - patients - population?
Undoubtedly patients
What should be changed / improved in the scientific community?
Although it is changing, the value of research designs other than the RCT warrants more recognition. This also includes the value of qualitative research to understand phenomena, experiences and perspectives of patients.
Is there anything we can wake you up for in the middle of the night?
Only in case of an emergency, to save me and my family’s life.
What is the thing that irritates you most?
‘Oak processionary caterpillars’ (Eikenprocessierupsen)
Who would you like to have dinner with, if you had the chance?
Michelle Obama
How do you relax from the demanding job being a scientist?
Walking and running with the ‘Millscorner running girlz’ in the beautiful surroundings of Molenhoek and working in the (kitchen)garden.
Do you have a tip for our most junior scientists?
Collaborate with other researchers and if possible patients and learn about and apply mixed methods methodology.
Please add a photo which represents a remarkable event or experience you were part of? Please explain.
In 2018, the ‘Millscorner running girlz’ joined the Run my city Paris, which was a great experience running through l’Hotel de Ville, the Opéra house and through the Moulin Rouge.
