Prof. Teus van Laar
Professor of Neurology & Advanced treatment of Parkinson’s disease, University of Groningen, Netherlands

Teus van Laar received his MD at Groningen University, The Netherlands. He received his training as a neurologist at the Medisch Spectrum Twente in Enschede and at the Leiden University Medical Center, and was registered as neurologist in 1995. In 1996 he received his PhD degree, based on a thesis on the pharmacokinetics and clinical efficacy of apomorphine. In 1996 he also received a degree in clinical pharmacology.

From 1996–1999 he was staff neurologist at the Leiden University Medical Center. In 1999 he moved to the University Medical Center Groningen as a specialist in movement disorders. In 2004 he was appointed as associate professor (UHD) neurology, with a focus on neuromodulation and neuropharmacology, especially functional stereotactic surgery and the pharmacological treatment of Parkinson’s disease.  In 2015 he was appointed as full professor of Neurology. Since 2016 he has been the Scientific Director of the Parkinson Expertise Center Groningen.

He is a reviewer for several journals including Movement Disorders, Journal of Neural Transmission, Parkinsonism and Related Disorders, Drugs and Aging, Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry and the Dutch Journal of Medicine.

His research is focused on both motor and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. This includes pharmacological research to optimize motor fluctuations, but also research to get more insight in the mechanisms and possible treatment options of cognitive impairment and visual hallucinations in PD. Also the organization of care around PD patients and its cost-effectiveness is one of his research interests. For his research Prof. van Laar received the Prof. Dr. Hans Lakke award in 2005. Prof. van Laar is member of the ethical review board of the University Medical Center Groningen, chairman of the quality committee Parkinson’s disease of ParkinsonNet/Dutch Neurological Society, and was chairman of the writing committee of the Dutch guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson’s disease.

Furthermore, Prof. van Laar is founder and president of the Parkinson Platform Noord-Nederland (PPNN), a network of Parkinson related health professionals in the northern counties of the Netherlands, with the aim to improve the care and cure of patients with PD.