Martijn Brouwers

Professor

Dr Martijn Brouwers obtained his MD degree (with honours) in 2002, after which he started his PhD project that focused on hepatic steatosis in familial combined hyperlipidemia. In 2006, he worked as a trainee at the Department of Internal Medicine and Endocrinology. Since 2012, he has been a staff member (internist-endocrinologist) at Maastricht UMC+ and in 2019 he was appointed as the head of the division of Endocrinology and Metabolic Disease.

His research focusses on the cardiometabolic consequences of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). NAFLD consists of a histological spectrum comprising simple steatosis, steatohepatitis (NASH), fibrosis and cirrhosis. Evidence is accumulating that NAFLD is not only a liver disease per se, it is also a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease. This research line aims to elucidate the exact mechanistic link between NAFLD and these systemic diseases. For this, a diverse set of studies is used, ranging from (genetic) epidemiology, to ‘human knockout’ models, to randomised controlled trials and experimental animal work. This research is in part funded by the Dutch Heart Foundation, the Dutch Diabetes Foundation and the European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes.