Researchers

Amsterdam UMC Researchers:

Prof.dr. Hanneke van Laarhoven

Hanneke W.M. van Laarhoven, MD, PhD, PhD is professor of translational medical oncology at the University of Amsterdam and Head of the Medical Oncology department at Amsterdam UMC. Van Laarhoven is a strong supporter of interdisciplinarity within science, as evidenced by her two MA degrees – in Medicine and Theology (both cum laude), as well as her two PhDs – in Medical Oncology (cum laude) and Religious Studies. In her search for new and better treatment methods for patients with cancer, she looks for collaborations between the (bio)medical, social sciences and humanities. She currently supervises more than 30 PhD students, PostDoc researchers and research assistants with backgrounds in medical science, biology, artificial intelligence, and has internationally published more than 390 peer-reviewed articles and a large number of abstracts for both national and international research meetings. Within the research line 'Contingency, Culture & Oncology', she is involved in all projects as Principal Investigator (PI)

Dr. Niels van Poecke

Niels van Poecke, PhD, is a PostDoc researcher at the Department of Medical Oncology, Amsterdam UMC. He has a background in sociology (MA) and philosophy (MA) and specializes in theoretical and qualitative research, more specifically within the disciplines of cultural sociology and art theory. He has previously published on participatory art, the relationship between culture/music and social inequality, and on the use of (pop) music as a self-care instrument and medium for the construction of narrative identity. As a researcher, he participates in all projects within the research line 'Contingency, Culture & Oncology'; within 'Staging Cancer' as project leader.

Drs. Yvonne Weeseman

Yvonne Weeseman, MA, MSc, MSc, is a PhD researcher associated with the In Search Of Stories project of the Department of Medical Oncology, Amsterdam UMC. She has a background in clinical psychology, spiritual care, clinical family pedagogy and creative therapy.

Drs. Emily Evans

Emily Evans, MA is a PhD researcher at the Department of Medical Oncology, Amsterdam UMC, where she works on the projects 'Staging Cancer' and 'In Search of Stories'. Emily has an academic and professional background in arts and culture, specializing in socially engaged art practices. She graduated from Winchester School of Art (UK) and MA Arts, Culture and Society and Erasmus University Rotterdam (NL). She has also worked as a producer and programmer for socially-engaged arts organizations, including projects such as ‘Clubhouse’, ‘Lookout’ and ‘PROCESSIONS’.

Drs. Marike Geurts

Marike Geurts, MA, is a PhD researcher at the Department of Medical Oncology, Amsterdam UMC. Her research is part of the interdisciplinary research project The Art of Creating New Stories: Working with Art-Learning in Palliative Care. She is academically trained as an art and cultural historian. During her master's degree, she worked for Studio I – a platform for inclusive culture, and a collaboration between the Van Abbemuseum and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, in which she worked on inclusion and diversity issues in the cultural sector. During the corona pandemic, she retrained as a nurse with a specialization in elderly care. In her work as a nurse she has gained a lot of experience with palliative care. She can now combine this broad knowledge and experience in her research into what art-based learning can mean for oncology patients in the palliative phase.

Mariana Gusso Nickel

Mariana Gusso Nickel, MA, is an artistic researcher and research assistant at the department of Medical Oncology, Amsterdam UMC, where she works in the project “Cancer in everyday life: Exploring the affordances of music in narrative meaning-making in AYA patients with advanced incurable cancer”. She graduated from the Master of Art and Performance Research Studies at the University of Amsterdam, and she is interested in researching the intersections of art and life-writing studies. She also works as an editor and events coordinator for Simulacrum Magazine.

Research partners In Search of Stories:

Dr. Michael Scherer-Rath

Michael Scherer-Rath, PhD is an Associate Professor of Empirical Religious Studies and supervisor (LVSC) at the Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies, Radboud University Nijmegen. He conducts empirical research in spiritual counseling and diagnostics and specializes in research into experiences of contingency in everyday life. As a researcher, he participates in all projects within the research line 'Contingency, Culture & Oncology', within In Search of Stories as principal investigator (PI).

Dr. Esther Helmich

Esther Helmich, MD, PhD, works as a geriatric medicine specialist at Amsta, a large healthcare organization in Amsterdam. She has extensive experience with qualitative research, in particular with the (longitudinal/repeated) use of interviews and visual methods. Together with colleagues from Western University (London, Ontario, Canada), she has introduced and further developed the use of 'rich pictures' as a research method in the medical sciences. She is involved as a senior researcher in the In Search of Stories project.

Drs. Nirav Christophe

Nirav Christophe, MA is a lecturer in Expanding Artistic Processes at the HKU University of the Arts Utrecht. He writes for theater and radio. He was artistic director of the first four-year HBO theater writing course in the Netherlands for 9 years, and is an internationally renowned writing pedagogue. He is an expert on creativity processes, specialized in transdisciplinary co-creative processes, in which artists collaborate with non-artistic domains.

Drs. Henny Dörr

Henny Dörr, MA is senior docent aan de HKU, University of the Arts Utrecht, working in the field of expanding artistic practices, within the professorship of the same name. The Care-Labs research environment of the professorship enables research on co-creative strategies and transdisciplinary collaboration between art, science and (health)care. They participate in transdisciplinary research projects such as In search of Stories; If you’re not there where are you (on the experiences of Absences) and Prikkel (on sensory integration). Within the educational programs of HKU, Henny Dörr developed a range of BA and MA courses on theatre design, (interactive) performance design and scenography. Originally a dramaturg that graduated in Theatre Studies at UvA in 1986, their perspective has always been on the creative and performative processes and practices that transgress the boundaries of disciplines. They have a vast international network within the expanded fields of scenography.

Research partners The Art of Creating New Stories:

Dr. Jeroen Lutters

Jeroen Lutters, PhD, is professor Art education as Critical Tactics (AeCT) at ArtEZ University of the Arts. He propagates the importance of arts and humanities in-and outside of formal educational contexts. His main research focus is on creative theory, creative experiments, mapping and tracking creative interventions, and curating a radical creative turn in society. He developed the Art-Based Learning (ABL) approach and is the founder of the ABL centre, where hundreds of professionals are trained nowadays. As an independent curator and educator, he designed several exhibitions. In several monographies, he demonstrates how the work of modern artists, like Gerhard Richter and Cy Twombly, can be seen as research-based art in connection to creative thinking. At the moment, he supervises 6 PhD students in interdisciplinary contexts (arts, humanities, social science and medical research) and has recently published a handbook on art-based learning.

Prof.dr. Gerben Westerhof

Gerben Westerhof, PhD, is professor of Narrative Psychology and Technology at the University of Twente. He is interested in how stories about one’s own life are related to meaning in life, well-being and health. Besides theoretical and methodological work on this theme, he has applied insights from his work in the design and evaluation of several narrative interventions. He directs the Story Lab which brings together narrative research at the University of Twente. Over the past five years, he attracted 4.0 million euro of funding as (co-)applicant of research projects. He supervises about 10 PhD students and published more than 120 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He also edited several handbooks and was co-author of intervention protocols.

Dr. Fabiola Camuti

Fabiola Camuti (she/her) is Associate Professor (i.o.), at the Professorship Art education as Critical Tactics (AeCT), ArtEZ University of the Arts, Research Affiliate with the Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis (ASCA), and KUO program leader Research in Arts Education (Arts Sector, National Association Universities of Applied Science). She has been researcher and practitioner in different countries and institutions (Italy, France, Denmark, UK, NL) and has worked as Lecturer at the Departments of Theatre Studies (University of Amsterdam) and Media and Culture (Utrecht University). Her research is strongly characterized by interdisciplinary methodology which involves the dialogue between humanities, cognition, and spirituality. She conducts research, leads projects, and gives seminars on topics that include embodied and socially-just pedagogies, participatory arts, performance & politics, politics of arts and cultural education, non-hierarchical learning, arts education in a more-than-human world.

Research partners Forgiveness at the End of Life:

Claudia Rossy, PhD candidate pyschology, predoctoral researcher at UIC, Barcelona

Claudia Rossy, PhD candidate in psychology, pre-doctoral researcher at UIC, Barcelona. Conducts research into forgiveness in the final phase of life. Health psychologist, and lecturer and coordinator of the course Health and Wellbeing Psychology at UIC.