Eric C. J. Claas PhD

Eric C.J. Claas has a long standing (since 1989) experience in development and implementation of molecular diagnostic tests in the clinical microbiology laboratory. After his PhD in 1991,he worked for eight years at the Dutch National Influenza centre (Erasmus University, Rotterdam) where his group identified the first human H5N1 (bird-flu) infection in 1997. Since 1998, he is heading the molecular diagnostics section of the department of medical microbiology at the LUMC, Leiden, The Netherlands and is coordinator of the NGS activities of the department. He has authored over 200 peer reviewed publications and books and holds several positions in societies and committees, a.o. treasurer of the ESCMID Study Group on Genomic and Molecular Diagnostics and Chairman of the Dutch Molecular Microbiologists Trainee Programme Committee. In addition he holds consultant positions in two other Dutch Microbiology laboratories: Medical Centre Slotervaart in Amsterdam and the Franciscus Gasthuis and Vlietland in Rotterdam.