About Dr. R.S. (Reina) Sikkema
Introduction
Reina Sikkema is a veterinarian and assistant professor at the Virology department of the ErasmusMC in Rotterdam. She is leading the research group on One Health Virology that focuses on laboratory capacity, risk based surveillance and prediction and ecology of emerging diseases, from a One Health perspective.
Reina is interested in unravelling the drivers and risk factors of zoonotic disease emergence and spread, by combining local data from ecology, sociology, economics and other disciplines combined with the development of advanced diagnostics, to study the ecology of emerging diseases on the human-animal interface.
Her specific focus is on arboviruses on the human-animal- environment interface, in the context of climate change. These include studies to detect emergence and spread of arboviral diseases of public health relevance, with specific focus on bird ecology and bird reservoirs. Moreover, she currently co-leads several studies on the possible effects of climate adaptation measures and Nature based solutions (NbS) on vectors and animal hosts and subsequent human health risks.
Education and career
Reina Sikkema has a master in Veterinary Medicine (University of Utrecht; specialization Farm Animal Health and Veterinary Public Health) and Biomedical Sciences (VU University; Infectious diseases and International Public Health).
In 2008 she did a voluntary internship at the WHO Food Safety and Zoonoses department in Geneva. After several positions as farm animal veterinarian and veterinary and public health consultant she took up a fulltime PhD position at the ErasmusMC Viroscience department under the supervision of prof.dr. Marion Koopmans.
Publications
Selected publications:
- Sikkema Reina S, Schrama Maarten, van den Berg Tijs, Morren Jolien, Munger Emmanuelle, Krol Louie, van der Beek Jordy G, Blom Rody, Chestakova Irina, van der Linden Anne, Boter Marjan, van Mastrigt Tjomme, Molenkamp Richard, Koenraadt Constantianus JM, van den Brand Judith MA, Oude Munnink Bas B, Koopmans Marion PG, van der Jeugd Henk. Detection of West Nile virus in a common whitethroat (Curruca communis) and Culex mosquitoes in the Netherlands, 2020. Euro Surveill., 2020.
- Irina V. Chestakova, Anne van der Linden, Beatriz Bellido Martin, Valentina Caliendo, Oanh Vuong, Sanne Thewessen, Tijmen Hartung, Theo Bestebroer, Jasja Dekker, Bob Jonge Poerink, Andrea Gröne, Marion Koopmans, Ron Fouchier, Judith M. A. van den Brand & Reina S. Sikkema, High number of HPAI H5 virus infections and antibodies in wild carnivores in the Netherlands, 2020–2022, Emerging Microbes & Infections, 2023.
- Reina S Sikkema, Suzan D Pas, David F Nieuwenhuijse, Áine O'Toole, Jaco Verweij, Anne van der Linden, Irina Chestakova, Claudia Schapendonk, Mark Pronk, Pascal Lexmond, Theo Bestebroer, Ronald J Overmars, Stefan van Nieuwkoop, Wouter van den Bijllaardt, Robbert G Bentvelsen, Miranda M L van Rijen, Anton G M Buiting, Anne J G van Oudheusden, Bram M Diederen, Anneke M C Bergmans, Annemiek van der Eijk, Richard Molenkamp, Andrew Rambaut, Aura Timen, Jan A J W Kluytmans, Bas B Oude Munnink, Marjolein F Q Kluytmans van den Bergh, Marion P G Koopmans, COVID-19 in health-care workers in three hospitals in the south of the Netherlands: a cross-sectional study, The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Volume 20, Issue 11, 2020.
- Bas B. Oude Munnink, Reina S. Sikkema, David F. Nieuwenhuijse, Robert Jan Molenaar, Emmanuelle Munger, Richard Molenkamp, Arco van der Spek, Paulien Tolsma, Ariene Rietveld, Miranda Brouwer, Noortje Bouwmeester-Vincken, Frank Harders, Renate Hakze-van der Honing, Marjolein C. A. Wegdam-Blans, Ruth J. Bouwstra, Corine GeurtsvanKessel, Annemiek A. van der Eijk, Francisca C. Velkers, Lidwien A. M. Smit, Arjan Stegeman, Wim H. M. van der Poel, and Marion P. G. Koopmans,"Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 on mink farms between humans and mink and back to humans." Science 371, no. 6525 (2021): 172-177.
- Chiara de Bellegarde de Saint Lary, Louella M.R. Kasbergen, Patricia C.J.L. Bruijning-Verhagen, Henk van der Jeugd, Felicity Chandler, Boris M. Hogema, Hans L. Zaaijer, Fiona R.M. van der Klis, Luisa Barzon, Erwin de Bruin, Quirine ten Bosch, Marion P.G. Koopmans, Reina S. Sikkema, Leo G. Visser. Assessing West Nile virus (WNV) and Usutu virus (USUV) exposure in bird ringers in the Netherlands: a high-risk group for WNV and USUV infection? One Health Volume 16, June 2023.
- Reina S. Sikkema and Marion P.G. Koopmans. Preparing for Emerging Zoonotic Viruses. Encyclopedia of Virology. 2021 : 256–266.
Teaching activities
Other positions
Dr. Reina Sikkema is a member of the national West Nile Virus response team (now working group) and co-leads the ErasmusMC arbovirus reference laboratory.
Reina has been board member of the Dutch Society of Wildlife Health since 2020 and member of the Dutch Signaling forum Zoonoses since 2023.
Scholarships, grants, and awards
Grants (selection)
- 2014: Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences travel grant for a 3 month stay in China;
- 2016 - 2018 Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences China Exchange Program (CEP) Joint research project “Live poultry market based avian influenza and public health risks in the Guangdong province, China”;
- 2020 - 2022 ZonMW project “ Monitoring the evolution, spread and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through whole genome sequencing to enable fast genotype to phenotype prediction”.
Ongoing projects (selection)
- VEO https://www.veo-europe.eu/;
- OH-PACT https://www.onehealthpact.org/;
- IDalert Home - IDAlert – Infectious Disease decision-support tools and Alert systems (idalertproject.eu)
- PDPC frontrunner project on VEctorbrone diseases and climate change 1. Climate change and vectorborne virus outbreaks - Convergence
- Strong1H Strong1H | RIVM
