Wilhelmus-jan Metsemakers MD, PhD

Prof. Dr. Willem-Jan Metsemakers is currently a Consultant Trauma Surgeon in the Department of Trauma Surgery of the University Hospitals Leuven (UZ Leuven). He studied medicine at the Catholic University Leuven (KU Leuven) where he graduated in 2007 (MD). In 2014 he was accepted into the medical research fellowship program at the AO Research Institute in Davos, Switzerland. During his fellowship, he worked within the Musculoskeletal Infection Group on experimental models of implant-related infection. This preclinical research was part of his PhD, which was complimented by clinical studies that focused on complications after intramedullary nailing. He received his PhD in Biomedical Sciences from KU Leuven in 2015. He is currently an associate professor at KU Leuven, where he has multiple educational tasks mainly within the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences. His current clinical focus is musculoskeletal infection, compromised fracture healing, and limb reconstruction in orthopedic trauma surgery. Within the UZ Leuven, he is head of the Care Program for musculoskeletal infections and of the Coordination Group for Bacteriophage therapy Leuven.

On an international level, prof. dr. Willem-Jan Metsemakers is involved in multiple research projects on the topic of implant-related infection. Most of this research is performed in close collaboration with the AO Foundation and the KU Leuven. He received local, national, and internal scientific research grants in the field of musculoskeletal infection.

Within the AO Foundation, he is a member of the Clinical Priority Program on bone infection (AOTrauma) and of the Anti-Infection Global Expert Committee (AIGEC) which is a cross-specialty group within the AOTK System. He is one of the initiators and chairs of the Fracture-related infection (FRI) Consensus Group (https://innovations.aofoundation.org/innovation-translation/technical-commission/fracture-related-infection). Over the past years, this expert group developed a consensus on diagnosis and treatment principles for FRI. In reflecting the greater complexity of this serious complication, and engaging with other professional organizations, this group has grown over the years to include other external partners. Joining the AO Research Institute Davos, AOTrauma, and the AOTK Anti-Infection Global Expert Committee (AIGEC), were the European Bone and Joint Infection Society (EBJIS), the Orthopaedic Trauma Association (OTA), the Pro-Implant Foundation, as well as a broadened panel of experts with extensive clinical experience in FRI.

Prof. Dr. Willem-Jan Metsemakers authored over 70 peer-reviewed publications, and multiple book chapters and has given over 300 presentations, invited lectures, and seminars. He is currently a scientific guest editor for a special issue on FRI in ‘Antibiotics’ (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/antibiotics/special_issues/Fracture_Infection). Furthermore, he is a member of the editorial review board of multiple scientific journals.