Lidewij Henneman is professor of Patient Perspectives on Genetic Testing at the department of Human Genetics, Amsterdam UMC. She is co-director of the Amsterdam Reproduction & Development research institute and head of the section Community Genetics and Public Health Genomics.

Her research interests focus on how the applications of new genetic technologies before, during and after pregnancy impact individuals and society. Together with her research team she investigates the perspectives and decisions of (potential) users to help align responsible implementation of applications with the needs of the community, employing both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. 

Areas of interest are: preconception carrier screening for recessive diseases, prenatal screening, expansion of newborn bloodspot screening, and use of next generation sequencing for prenatal and postnatal diagnosis of children with congenital condition.

To set policy agendas and fill the gaps in patient care and support, the research is done in close collaboration with the patient organization Dutch Patient Alliance for Rare and Genetic Diseases (VSOP), relevant healthcare professionals, key (inter)national organizations, and other stakeholders in the field. 

Dr. Henneman is board member of the Dutch non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT) Consortium and coordinates research on women’s perspectives (TRIDENT studies). She won the Societal Impact Award 2016 (topic NIPT), and received the Dutch Public Health Award (Volksgezondheidsprijs) for her PhD thesis on Preconceptional cystic fibrosis carrier screening. 

She (co-)published over 150 international articles (H-index 34) and supervised 16 PhD students/thesis.