Drs. Maarten O. Kok

Which working days where present and if other than VU:
Monday RIVM, Tuesday – Friday present at VU

Short biography

Maarten Kok studied physical therapy (graduated 2004) and psychology in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. As a paramedic he experienced first hand the misfit between the outputs of health research and the needs of patients and healthcare providers in daily practice.
 
He decided to pursue both a Masters in Biomedical Science and a Masters in Public Administration (graduated cum laude 2007) to be able to conduct health research and thoroughly understand how to translate it into better health policies and better health care. During a research project in Western Africa he became interested in measuring and enhancing the impact of health research on health policy and health care in the specific environment of a developing health system.
 
In 2007 the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) provided him with the opportunity to conduct a PhD at the VU University at the Department Prevention and Public Health with a focus on strategies that aim to enhance the impact of health research on health policy, health care, and ultimately the health of the population.
 
His research on the impact of health research led to consultancies for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ghanaian-Dutch Health Research Programme and led to the participation in the ERIC network of the KNAW.
 
Maarten Kok has been the director of Prevendit (since 2001) for which he conducted consultancies in occupational health for various companies and governmental organisations.
 
He is co-founder and advisor of SAMUN (Stichting Amsterdam Model United Nations) and trained and led various mUN delegations to Harvard WorldMUN, Peking University (China), University of Oxford and Edinburgh University (UK) and is involved in various mUN conferences around the world as a committee chair, trainer, DSG or board member.

Research interests

• Achieving effective utilization of health research (bridge the Know-Do gap)
• Attuning health research to the needs of health workers, policy makers and patients.
• Diffusion and implementation of research findings through spread and reinvention.
• Enhancing health research capacity in developing countries.
• Managing complex societal health problems in policy and provider networks.
  
  

Key publications as 1st author

• Maarten Kok (2006) Publishing won’t stop anyone from perishing, Young Voices in Research for Health. Joint publication of The Lancet and The Global Forum for Health Research, Global Forum for Health Research, Geneva.

Publications as co-author

• Thierry Troosters, Maarten Kok, Rik Gosselink. (2002) Anabolic response during incremental and constant work rate exercise testing in COPD patients after an acute exacerbation. European Respiratory Society, September 2002, 12th Annual Congress, Stockholm, Sweden
  
  

Relevant websites

http://www.samun.nl/
http://www.hr4d.net/
http://www.eric-project.nl/