Programme

09:15 - 10:00

Check-in and registration

10:00 - 10:45

CHOIR's greatest hits - looking back to 20 years CHOIR prof. dr. Richard Boucherie and prof. dr. Erwin Hans

CHOIR founders Richard Boucherie and Erwin Hans will welcome you and take you through the history of CHOIR. How did it start? How did it develop? What were its greatest successes and failures?

10:45 - 11:00

Coffee break

11:00 - 12:30

Session: 20 Years of Research, Education and Impact

The first three PhD graduates from CHOIR were Peter Vanberkel, Maartje Zonderland, and Nikky Kortbeek. In this session, they will look back on their time at CHOIR and share what they have been doing in healthcare since then — Peter as a professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, and Maartje and Nikky as entrepreneurs in the Netherlands. Below you will find a short description of their backgrounds.

• Prof. Dr. Peter Vanberkel (Dalhousie University)
  All models are wrong, but ours are useful – CHOIR lessons that shape my thinking
  Peter T. Vanberkel is Professor of Industrial Engineering and Associate Dean of Research at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada. He holds an adjunct appointment in the Department of Emergency Medicine and is an affiliated researcher at IWK Health. In 2011, he obtained his PhD at the University of Twente with CHOIR. Professor Vanberkel currently serves as an editor for HCMS, ORDAL, IFORS, and Health Systems. He is a former president of the Canadian Operational Research Society and recently received the Eldon Gunn CORS Service Award. His research is funded by major Canadian research councils, and his project with Nova Scotia Health represents the largest hospital collaboration grant supported by the research organization Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems (Mitacs). His work has been featured by CBC, CTV News, the London Free Press, and TV Ontario.
• Dr. Ir. Maartje Zonderland (Zonderland & Van Zeijl BV)
  In her talk, she will take you through her journey — from completing her PhD at CHOIR (2012) to becoming an entrepreneur at Zonderland & Van Zeijl. It’s a path that runs through LUMC, Medtronic, and Menzis, with Integrated Capacity Management as a constant theme. She will show how her business partner Candide van Zeijl and she have grown from two “lonely” freelancers into a company where, together with a great team, they create impact for healthcare organizations in the Netherlands and beyond.
• Dr. Ir. Nikky Kortbeek (Rhythm BV)
  After earning his PhD with distinction within CHOIR (2012), Nikky continued improving healthcare processes at Amsterdam UMC, location AMC. As a postdoctoral researcher, he remained affiliated with the University of Twente. In 2014, together with Richard Boucherie and Erwin Hans, he founded a spin-off company to implement CHOIR’s research results in healthcare practice. Together with ORTEC bv, this led to the creation of the successful consultancy firm Rhythm b.v. (2014). Rhythm makes the knowledge gained in healthcare logistics more widely accessible and supports healthcare providers in the Netherlands and abroad in improving their capacity management.

12:30 - 13:30

Lunch break

13:30 - 14:30

Session: Challenges to come

Speakers: 

• Harry Verbunt (Inspire2Live)
  In a program like this, the patient’s perspective cannot be missing. Harry Verbunt is Chief Patients Officer at the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek hospital and a patient advocate affiliated with Inspire2Live. In May 2021, he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer (oesophageal carcinoma). After several treatments and a recurrence, he was admitted to an experimental clinical trial combining immunotherapy and targeted therapies. His case demonstrates how genetic markers (such as HER2) can lead to personalized treatment options. Harry shares his experiences publicly to inform, empower, and help other patients gain access to innovative care. As Chief Patient Officer at the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, he represents the patient at a strategic level, considering how certain decisions might affect patients from their perspective.
• prof. dr. Mark van Houdenhoven (Treant)
  It’s fair to say that without Prof. Dr. Mark van Houdenhoven, CHOIR might never have existed. Back in 2003, when he was working as Operating Room Manager at Erasmus MC, he was the first healthcare contact for Richard Boucherie and Erwin Hans. He sparked their interest in applying their Operations Research and Operations Management expertise to healthcare and remained one of CHOIR’s main collaborators throughout his later leadership positions at institutions such as Beatrix Hospital, Haga Hospital, and Sint Maartenskliniek.
  What made him unique was his drive not only to make an impact through research but also to publish results not just in OR journals, but in medical journals read by healthcare professionals. Mark has been an enormous source of inspiration for many within CHOIR as well as for University of Twente students attending his guest lectures.
  In addition to his role as Professor of Economic Management in Healthcare at Radboud University, Mark is an executive board member at Treant. He also writes regular opinion columns for national media. In his talk, Mark will outline the major challenges facing healthcare in the coming years — and what new challenges these developments pose for CHOIR.

14:30 - 15:30

Poster session with coffee/tea: Current CHOIR activities

During this session with coffee/tea, the CHOIR PhD students and staff will present posters about ongoing research. 

15:30 - 16:30

Session: Challenges to come (continued)

• ir. Sanne Blom (BovenIJ Ziekenhuis)
  Sanne Blom graduated in 2011 with a degree in Industrial Engineering and Management from the University of Twente. After her studies, she worked for several years as a consultant at ValueCare. She then became a senior organizational advisor at BovenIJ Hospital and later Staff Manager of Capacity & Logistics at Haga Hospital. Today, she is a member of the Executive Board of BovenIJ Hospital in Amsterdam.
  Outside her executive role, she has been active as chair of the Dutch Stoma Association (Stomavereniging), where she advocated for patients with stomas and contributed to the development of care services and patient representation.
  In her presentation, she will discuss Beter Samen in Noord (“Better Together in North”), an initiative of eight healthcare and welfare organizations (the Krijtmolen Alliance) working together to improve health and reduce health inequalities among residents of Amsterdam-North. CHOIR Professor Misja Mikkers is also involved in this initiative.
• prof. dr. Misja Mikkers (CHOIR, University of Twente)
  Since 2024, Misja Mikkers has been Professor of Health Systems Engineering at the University of Twente and a member of CHOIR. He previously served as Chief Economist at the Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa) and as Professor of Organization and Financing of Healthcare at Tilburg University.
  His research focuses on contracting and market design in healthcare, with special attention to regional collaboration. Misja earned his PhD in 2008 from the University of Copenhagen. He is involved in regional cooperation projects such as Beter Samen in Noord and Mooi Maasvallei, and advises on the design, governance, and efficiency of both national and international healthcare systems.

16:30 - 16:45

Closing

16:45 - 18:00

Drinks and get-together/networking