To main content To main navigation
There is currently no curative therapy for Sjögren’s syndrome. As a team we are motivated by a drive to understand mechanisms underpinning Sjögren’s syndrome and to apply this knowledge to improve patient treatment regimens and quality of life. To realize this ultimate goal, we perform a wide array of clinical and translational studies.

Our main fields of interest are:

  • Early diagnosis in a multidisciplinary care path in both adults and children
  • Prediction of disease progression over time
  • Improving patient quality of life
  • Development and validation of outcome measures for clinical trials
  • Improving imaging techniques to study affected tissues (e.g., salivary glands, tear glands)
  • Gaining new insights on pathogenesis with emphasis on immunopathology in adult- and paediatric-onset Sjögren’s syndrome
  • Development of personalized treatments that can halt or cure disease
  • Early development of stem cell-based therapies to restore salivary gland function
Relevance

Making a difference for patients with Sjögren’s syndrome

Our ambition is to optimize care for patients with Sjögren’s syndrome. Early diagnosis and patient-tailored treatments are highly needed to preserve the patient’s quality of life. We have developed patient-centred care paths for adults and children as integral part of our Sjögren’s syndrome Expertise center at the UMCG. Together with patients, we identify clinical needs to guide our research.

    • We contribute to the development of international guidelines for the management of Sjögren’s syndrome.
    • We make significant contributions to the development of outcome measures for clinical trials.
    • We develop new imaging tools for diagnosis and monitoring of disease progression and treatment response.
    • We perform laboratory research to unravel disease mechanisms and translate these findings into novel biomarkers and targets for treatment.

  • We collaborate with patient partners and patient organizations, including the Dutch Arthritis Society (ReumaNederland), the Dutch Association of Sjögren patients (NVSP), Sjögren Europe and the Sjögren's Foundation (US). We are actively involved in multiple international consortia (e.g., HarmonicSS, NECESSITY) and have an extended network of international collaborators with partners from academia and pharmaceutical industries.

    Within the Netherlands, we are an active member of the national working group ‘Systemic Autoimmmune diseases’ (SANL). Internationally, we are involved in the EULAR-Sjögren Syndrome Task Force Group as well as the International Working Group on Sjögren Syndrome Classification Criteria.

Contact

Small profile photo of H. Bootsma
Hendrika Bootsma Professor and Head of department Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology

University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG)
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology
Sjögren research group
Postbus 30.001
9700 RB Groningen
The Netherlands

Visiting address
University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG)
Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology
Sjögren research group
Hanzeplein 1
9713 GZ Groningen