Emma Buckinx

Emma is a 22-year-old master student at the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium). As a student of biomedical sciences, she is a proud and motivated researcher. With her passion for studying the human body, she likes to contribute to the increasingly detailed clarification of all its mechanisms of action. Due to her specialization in management and communication, she has a broad vision on performing biomedical research and the various additional aspects. 

In the context of her master thesis she has to study how Belgian rheumatologists evaluate disease activity of a patient with rheumatoid arthritis in daily clinical practice. There are recommendations fort his evaluation, but there is no standardised protocol as the disease is very heterogeneous in its expression. Multiple disease activity indicators for rheumatoid arthritis exist so it is interesting to know on which indicators rheumatologists rely in order to make treatment decisions. Using the MaxDiff technique, the disease activity indicators of their preference can be clarified.