In Context

208 www.thelancet.com/neurology Vol 10 March 2011

Philip Scheltens, professor of cognitive neurology and director of the Alzheimer’s Center at Vrije Universiteit Medical Center in Amsterdam, Netherlands, is a born networker—in the nicest possible sense.

“He’s very social. He wants to know everything, and he gets to know everything, but in a very pleasant way: with a big smile”, says Frederik Barkhof (professor of neuroradiology, Vrije Universiteit Medical Center). Wiesje van der Flier, director of clinical research at the Alzheimer’s Center, who Scheltens describes as his “right hand”, agrees: “Philip has lots of collaborations in the Netherlands and all around the world, and that’s due to his pleasant personality. He attracts people.” She adds: “I might be his right hand regarding clinical research, but Philip is a man of many right hands”, implying that Scheltens has recruited an abundance of important colleagues and collaborators.

Scheltens explains that this natural instinct for socialising was a pulling force towards his chosen career. As a youngster he had been interested in physics and technology: “I was always busy dismantling radios and televisions”, he says, “but I really liked the idea of working with people; I was a very social guy.” In 1976, he successfully applied to study medicine at Vrije Universiteit. “From the fi rst day of medical school onwards, I must say, I liked it enormously. It was the right choice”, he says.

However, Scheltens’ socialising almost put pay to his chosen career too. He had grown up in the small town of Dordrecht near Rotterdam, and chose to go to the big city for university, “…to the only place in the Netherlands that really counts: Amsterdam”. He moved into a student house, bought a set of wheels (a green 1967 Volkswagen Beetle), which made him instantly popular, and set about getting to know the city and enjoying himself. “I enjoyed it so much”, he explains, “that I didn’t pass my exams.”

It was a minor blip, however. Scheltens started again the following year and still managed to graduate within the normal 7 years. After medical school came military service for 16 months, a residency in neurosurgery for 9 months, and then 5 years of training in neurology. During this training, the decision to focus on Alzheimer’s disease came about through both a fortuitous turn of events and the memory of his own grandfather who had had the disease.

There was no real interest in Alzheimer’s disease at that time, explains Scheltens. The clinical criteria for diagnosis had only recently been published, and he knew just one colleague who was interested in the disease.

That colleague happened to take a year’s sabbatical in Vancouver, Canada, and asked Scheltens to look after his patients with Alzheimer’s disease while he was away. “The patients intrigued me”, says Scheltens—just as his own grandfather had intrigued him as a boy: “I was very curious as to how a guy like my grandfather could change his behaviour so much.”

Scheltens was so intrigued, in fact, that he decided to make Alzheimer’s disease the focus of his PhD studies. He looked at the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease with a then-new procedure, MRI, and, among other things, observed atrophy of their medial temporal lobes. “Those were the early days of MRI: we had just had our scanner installed”, says Barkhof, who was studying for his PhD and learning the ropes of MRI alongside Scheltens. “Everything was so new. It was a fun time...We learned a lot and we had each other to lean on.”

From then on, Scheltens’ research into Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias grew, and so too did the numbers of his collaborations and staff . In 2000, he founded the Alzheimer’s Center with a staff of four. Today, the number is about ten times higher, and the centre receives 500 new patients per year and twice that number in returning patients.

It is the leading centre for early-onset dementia in the Netherlands, says Scheltens, and has recently moved into a new building, “opened by the Queen on the 28th September, 2010”, he adds, proudly. “It was a really big event, and that’s important because it gives Alzheimer’s disease the awareness it deserves.”

The building itself also gives the patients the attention they deserve, adds van der Flier. It is centred around a comfortable patient waiting room, or “lounge”, she explains. “The luxurious look and feel is something we wanted, because Alzheimer’s patients tend to be rather neglected.” Research at the centre covers everything from imaging to biomarkers to clinical trials. “Philip is always at the forefront”, says van der Flier.

Scheltens loves his work, and says his ambition to “do something meaningful for Alzheimer’s patients” has only grown over the years. That said, he sometimes wonders if his work/life balance has been a bit work-heavy. He has a wife and three children, whom he’d like to spend more time with, and says that over the years all but one of his hobbies have fallen by the wayside. True to his social nature, the one remaining hobby he pursues is something that all his family and friends can benefi t from: cooking.

Ruth Williams

Profi lePhilip Scheltens: friendly face of Alzheimer’s disease research

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