Dr. H.M. van Santen is clinical researcher, pediatric endocrinologist, and committed to improve the endocrine outcome of children with (oncologic) disease.

"I have the vision that all children should have an optimal hormonal state enabling them to have an optimal daily quality of life and to develop and grow (comparable to their peers) into adulthood. For children with underlying disease, this requires cross-field thinking and collaboration with partners outside of one’s own domain. My mission is to improve outcome of children with any kind of disease by preventing or restoring their endocrine dysfunction. Within this mission, I focus on the key-player of the endocrine system; “the hypothalamus".

Dr. Van Santen moved her career in 2013 to Utrecht to coordinate the endocrine care for children with cancer in the Princess Máxima Center. She has co-authored > 150 papers on the endocrine effects of childhood cancer treatment, pediatric thyroid cancer , craniopharyngioma and hypothalamic dysfunction.

She is an active associate professor in the research program of Child Health, WKZ, UMCU and associate-PI in the Princess Máxima Centre for Pediatric Oncology. In the UMCU Utrecht, she is coordinator of the European Reference Centers for "Rare Hypothalamic Disease", "Pituitary tumors" and "Thyroid Tumors" and , within the Maxima, chair of the M4C Craniopharyngioma. Her research program focusses on hypothalamic dysfunction and hypothalamic obesity, craniopharyngioma, pediatric thyroid cancer and the endocrine effects of childhood cancer treatment. She is an internationally acknowledged expert on hypothalamic dysfunction and pediatric thyroid cancer with regular invited lectures both national and international.

She is the chair of the Dutch Pediatric Endocrinologists (NvK, sectie kinderendocrinologie), of the SIOPe craniopharyngioma working group, and of the European Guideline for Thyroid cancer in children. Together with the Late Effects of Childhood Cancer International Guideline Harmonization Groups (IGHG) she co-chairs the recommendations for thyroid and hypothalamic-pituitary disorders, and is member of the working groups for gonadal toxicity and preservation of fertility and metabolic syndrome.

2020                ZonMW Stimuleringssubsidie "Implementatie van nieuw behandelalgoritme voor hypothalame obesitas bij kinderen met een supra-sellaire tumor"

2019                KIKA project: THYRO-Dynamics Study (Prospective study on thyroid function during treatment with chemotherapy in 600 children)

2019                Princess Maxima Grant; research grant for 4-year PhD student: “Building an organoid model for craniopharyngioma”

2009-2011      Fellowship kinderendocrinologie in het Emma Kinderziekenhuis AMC