Ann Van Den Bruel MD, PhD

Ann Van den Bruel, MD, Ph.D. is the associate Professor at the Catholic University of Leuven, Flemish Brabant, Belgium. Over the past years, she has worked mainly on the diagnosis of serious infections in children. More precisely she conducted a large-scale study in primary care to analyze the value of clinical features for this diagnosis. In addition, we looked at how laboratory tests can help with this diagnosis and how parents and doctors view the diagnostic process when a child is admitted to the hospital with a serious infection. The results of these studies have been used in several guidelines including one on feverish children by NICE.

More generally, she has collaborated with colleagues in other studies on diagnostic tests, such as clinical features in patients with chest pain, ultrasound for patients with shoulder problems, exercises testing to identify coronary disease, etc.

Currently, she is the Director of the NIHR Diagnostic Evidence Co-operative Oxford which aims to facilitate diagnostic innovations in the NHS. They offer training and advice for anyone who is developing a new diagnostic test for primary care.