prof. dr. J. (Joukje) van der Naalt

Professor Joukje van der Naalt is appointed at the Department of Neurology, University Medical Centre Groningen, the Netherlands. Her scientific and clinical expertise concerns the field of neurotraumatology.  Main topic of research is the role of imaging and serum biomarkers as early predictors of outcome after TBI, regarding cognition and behaviour.

She has contributed to several Multidisciplinary Guidelines on Management of TBI and ABI. As clinician she is involved in care for patients at the ED, ICU and the post-concussion clinic and has gained experience as clinical and research fellow at the St. Michael’s Hospital Toronto, Canada. As member of the steering committee of the Dutch Brain Foundation has contributed to the development of a Standard of Care for TBI. She has initiated a multidisciplinary care network for TBI professionals in the Northern Netherlands. She is involved in various (inter)national research projects and is program leader of a multi-center follow-study on mild TBI (UPFRONT-study) and elderly patients with mild TBI (ReCONNECT-study) in the Netherlands. Various peer-reviewed journal papers have been published on the topic of neurotrauma. Is author of the Handbook of Neurotraumatology.

Currently she is involved in the care for mild TBI as member of the initiative by NASEM (Action Collaborative on Traumatic Brain Injury Care) and as co-chair of the NIH-NINDS TBI classification and nomenclature working group. Member of the scientific committee of the IBIA (International Brain Injury Association).