VWD is not haemophilia

Speakers: Jeroen Eikenboom, Baiba Ziemele

Jeroen Eikenboom received his MD degree in 1988 at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and his PhD at the Leiden University in 1994. He was trained in internal medicine at the Leiden University Medical Centre and sub-specialized in haematology and vascular medicine. He is professor of Internal Medicine/Haemostasis and Thrombosis since 2011. His clinical work is focused on bleeding disorders, thrombophilia and vascular medicine. His research is focused on bleeding disorders, especially von Willebrand disease.

Baiba Ziemele is a passionate patient advocate from Latvia. Living with inherited bleeding disorder, von Willebrand disease, she has been heavily involved in patient advocacy, becoming president of Latvia Hemophilia Society in 2009, engaging in various committees at European Haemophilia Consortium and World Federation of Hemophilia, representing European community with bleeding disorders as ePAG in EuroBloodNet, European Reference Network for rare hematological diseases. She has helped shaping rare disease policy nationally and internationally. Since 2018, Baiba is also building Latvian Network of Patient Organizations to bring united patient voice and represent patient interests at various tables. In 2022, Baiba received Human Development award for outstanding contribution to health from Civic Alliance Latvia and US Embassy in Latvia.