Dirkje Postma
{{Short description|Dutch pulmonary researcher (born 1951)}}
{{Expand language|topic=bio|langcode=nl|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Dirkje Postma
| image = DSPostma.jpg
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1951}}
| birth_place = Nij Beets, Netherlands
| workplaces = University of Groningen
}}
Dirkje "Sjoukje" Postma (born 1951 in Nij Beets, the Netherlands) is a Dutch professor at the University of Groningen and the University Medical Center Groningen. She focused her research career on asthma and COPD. Postma is a member of the Health Council of the Netherlands.{{Cite web|url=https://www.narcis.nl/person/RecordID/PRS1237633/Language/en|title=prof. dr. D.S. (Dirkje) Postma|date=|publisher=|access-date=14 January 2020}}
Career
Postma graduated with a degree in medicine in 1978. She specialised in pulmonology. In 1984 she obtained her PhD-degree with a thesis entitled Reversibility of chronic airflow obstruction.{{Cite thesis|url=http://www.rug.nl/research/portal/publications/reversibility-of-chronic-airflow-obstruction(56be30f3-9d58-4420-b53a-3e4083e25367).html|title=Reversibility of chronic airflow obstruction|last=D.S. Postma|year=1984 |publisher=University of Groningen|access-date=14 January 2020|type=Thesis fully internal (DIV) }} After graduation, she worked for the Longfonds (then called Astmafonds), a Dutch health organisation. On behalf of this organisation, she became endowed professor at the University of Groningen. In 1998 she got appointed as full professor Pathophysiology of the respiration at this university. On 1 April 2016 Postma retired.
Postma's research focusses on asthma and COPD. She co-authored over 600 peer-reviewed papers in journals such as New England Journal of Medicine and the Lancet. Because of her research, steroids are nowadays used to mitigate the symptoms of asthma. Her research has been beneficial to millions of people suffering from respiratory illnesses.{{Cite web|url=https://www.knaw.nl/nl/prijzen/laureaten/laureaten-programma-akademiehoogleraren/dirkje-postma|title=Dirkje Postma|last=KNAW|date=|publisher=|access-date=14 January 2020}}
One of the results of her research is that asthma and COPD can be distinguished from each other. Postma and co-workers found out that genetic variants occurring in people suffering from allergies also occur in people suffering from asthma and those with a higher risk of myocardial infarctions. These links between these conditions have led to new insights in how to treat those conditions.
Recognition
In 1995, Postma received the Aletta Jacobs Medal. Five years later, she received the Spinoza Prize, the highest academic honour in the Netherlands.{{Cite web|url=http://www.newscientist.nl/nieuws/postma-ontvangt-nwospinoza-premie-2000/|title=Postma ontvangt NWO/Spinoza-premie 2000|last=New Scientist|date=|publisher=newscientist|access-date=14 January 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.lnvh.nl/a-288/koninklijke-onderscheidingen-2007|title=Koninklijke onderscheidingen 2007|last=Dutch Network of Women Professors|date=|publisher=|access-date=14 January 2020}} In the same year she (as second woman in the Netherlands) joined the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.{{cite web|author= |url=https://www.knaw.nl/en/members/members/5105 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191118095419/https://www.knaw.nl/en/members/members/5105 |title=Dirkje Postma |publisher=Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences |date= |archive-date=18 November 2019}} In May 2015 she received the prestigious Trudeau Medal from the American Lung Association. She was the first non-American recipient of this honour.{{Cite web|url=https://www.umcg.nl/NL/UMCG/Nieuws/Nieuwsberichten/Paginas/Prestigieuze.aspx|title=Prestigieuze Trudeau Award voor Dirkje Postma|date=|publisher=University Medical Center Groningen|access-date=14 January 2020}}
In 2007, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences awarded her as Akademiehoogleraar{{Cite web|url=http://www.rug.nl/news-and-events/news/archief2007/035_07|title=Dirkje Postma benoemd tot Akademiehoogleraar|publisher=Rijksuniversiteit Groningen|date=|access-date=14 January 2020}} and two years later she received the presidential award of the European Respiratory Society.
Postma holds honorary doctorates of the University of Sheffield{{Cite web|url=https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/alumni/news_archive/2012/honorary_degrees_benefactor|title=Academics and graduates given honorary degrees and benefactor recognised|last=|date=|publisher=Universiteit van Scheffield|access-date=14 January 2020}} and Lund University. In her name, the Dutch Longfonds has set up a scholarship for young talents, the Dirkje Postma Talent Award.{{Cite web|url=https://www.umcg.nl/NL/UMCG/Nieuws/Persberichten/Paginas/Dirkje-Postma.aspx|title=Thomassen à Thuessinkpenning voot Dirkje Postma bij haar afscheid van UMCG|date=|publisher=University Medical CenterGroningen|access-date=14 January 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.longfonds.nl/nieuws/nieuwe-subsidie-jong-talent-dirkje-postma-talent-award|title=Nieuwe subsidie jong talent: Dirkje Postma Talent Award|last=|publisher=Longfonds|access-date=14 January 2020|archive-date=19 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419123532/https://www.longfonds.nl/nieuws/nieuwe-subsidie-jong-talent-dirkje-postma-talent-award|url-status=dead}}
References
{{Scholia}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Postma, Dirkje}}
Category:Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
Category:Spinoza Prize winners