Stijn Niessen
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Stijn is a Lecturer in Small Animal Internal Medicine with a special interest in endocrinology. He is currently involved in under- and postgraduate teaching, the internal medicine referral clinic, supervising the Internal Medicine residents and many activities surrounding diabetes mellitus and acromegaly research at the Royal Veterinary College as well as the Medical School in Newcastle. As part of his research and clinical activities Stijn leads a number of endocrinology clinics at the RVC, including a dedicated Diabetic and Acromegalic Cat Clinic, a Hypophysectomy Clinic and a Diabetic Remission Clinic.
Biography
Stijn is from the Netherlands and graduated from Ghent University in Belgium. He then completed an internship in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, followed by completion of a 3-year Small Animal Internal Medicine Residency at the Royal Veterinary College. He then studied for a PhD in Diabetes Mellitus at the RVC and the Medical School in Newcastle from 2006 to 2009. Stijn gained his status of European Specialist in Internal Medicine in 2007 (Diplomate ECVIM).
He was granted an award for “Excellence in the advancement of Endocrinology” by the Society of Comparative Endocrinology (SCE) in 2008, the “Young Researcher in Endocrinology Award” by the European Society of Veterinary Endocrinology (ESVE) in 2009 and a research-award by the Anglo Danish Dutch Diabetes Group (ADDDG) also in 2009. Stijn is also currently board member of the European Society of Veterinary Endocrinology and ex-board member of the Small Animal Medicine Society.
Research
Stijn’s main research interests are all endocrine (hormonal) diseases and in particular diabetes mellitus and acromegaly. He performs his research both at the RVC, other University of London Research facilities and the Medical School in Newcastle. Furthermore he is interested in the development and application of Quality of Life assessment tools (psychometrics) for ill pets and their owners.
Teaching
Stijn is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has a Postgraduate Certificate in Veterinary Education. Most of Stijn’s didactic teaching is to the third and fourth year BVetMed students (endocrine system) and to final year students during their time in the referral clinic. He also provides teaching on other years of the BVetMed. Other teaching includes the elective course on feline medicine and small animal medicine and the the BscVetSci course, as well as the Postgraduate Diploma in Veterinary Nursing. Stijn is also supervising two PhD-students in the field of diabetes mellitus. In addition Stijn supervises a number of clinical research projects performed by final-year elective students and residents (SCTSs). Stijn enjoys working with students (under- and postgraduate), especially trying to make them feel confident and enthusiastic about the next step in their career. Stijn is also involved in providing various RVC CPD courses, mainly in the field of endocrinology, and RVC’s Certificate in Advanced Veterinary Practice (CertAVP) programme.
Clinical
Stijn supervises and helps running the internal medicine referral clinic in the Queen Mother Hospital of the RVC. He also runs the Diabetic and Acromegalic Cat Clinic, the Diabetic Remission Clinic, as well as the Hypophysectomy Clinic at the RVC.
Selected Publications
1. Niessen SJ, Powney S, Guitian J, Niessen AP, Pion PD, Shaw JA, Church DB. Evaluation of a Quality-of-Life Tool for Dogs with Diabetes Mellitus. J Vet Intern Med. 2012 Jul;26(4):953-61. doi: 10.1111/j.1939-1676.2012.00947.x. Epub 2012 May 31
2. Niessen SJ, Fernandez-Fuente M, Mahmoud A, Campbell SC, Aldibbiat A, Huggins C, Brown AE, Holder A, Piercy RJ, Catchpole B, Shaw JA, Church DB.Novel diabetes mellitus treatment: mature canine insulin production by canine striated muscle through gene therapy. Domest Anim Endocrinol. 2012 Jul;43(1):16-25. Epub 2012 Feb 21. 3. Niessen SJ. Quality-of-life assessment: honouring our oath in practice and research. J Small Anim Pract. 2011 Sep;52(9):453-4.
4.. Niessen SJ, Powney S, Guitian J, Niessen AP, Pion PD, Shaw JA, Church DB. Evaluation of a quality-of-life tool for cats with diabetes mellitus. J Vet Intern Med. 2010 Sep-Oct;24(5):1098-105.
5. Niessen SJ. Feline acromegaly: an essential differential diagnosis for the difficult diabetic. J Feline Med Surg. 2010 Jan;12(1):15-23.
6. Niessen S, Mahmoud A, Arden C, Brown A, Campbell S, Aldibbiat A, Church D, Shaw J. Muscle targeted gene therapy for diabetes mellitus: role of proteasomal decay in mutant proinsulin plasmid efficiency. Human Gene and Cell Therapy,2009 7. Mahmoud A, Niessen S, Aldibbiat A, Al-Turaifi H, Huggins C , Shaw JAM. Muscle-targeted gene transfer enables continuous secretion of GLP-1 and exendin-4 in mice. Human Gene Therapy 2009, 20(11), 1542.
8. Niessen S, Mahmoud A, Aldibbiat A, Campbell S, Brown A, Huggins C, Catchpole B, Church D, Shaw J. Development of muscle targeted gene therapy with a mutant canine proinsulin plasmid for the treatment of canine diabetes mellitus. Human Gene Therapy, 2008. 9. Niessen SJM, Mahmoud A, Aldibbiat A, Huggins C, Church DB, Shaw JAM. Muscle-targeted gene therapy for the treatment of diabetes mellitus: Investigating the role of the immune system when employing mutant (pro)insulin. Diabetologia 2008, 5 (S1), S243 no. 600.
10. Niessen SJ, Cherubini GB, Diane Shelton G.Autoimmune myasthenia gravis and dysautonomia in a dog. Gajanayake I, J Small Anim Pract. 2008 Nov;49(11):593-5. Epub 2008 Aug 5.
11. Niessen SJ, Petrie G, Gaudiano F, Khalid M, Smyth JB, Mahoney P, Church DB.Feline acromegaly: an underdiagnosed endocrinopathy? Niessen SJ, Petrie G, Gaudiano F, Khalid M, Smyth JB, Mahoney P, Church DB. J Vet Intern Med. 2007 Sep-Oct;21(5):899-905.
12. Niessen SJ, Khalid M, Petrie G, Church DB. Validation and application of a radioimmunoassay for ovine growth hormone in the diagnosis of acromegaly in cats. Vet Rec. 2007 Jun 30;160(26):902-7.
13. Niessen SJ, Eastwood J, Smyth JB, Cherubini GB. Five cases of canine dysautonomia in England (2004 to 2006). J Small Anim Pract. 2007 Jun;48(6):346-52. Epub 2007 Apr 8.
14. Niessen SJ, Voyce MJ, de Villiers L, Hargreaves J, Blunden AS, Syme HM.Generalised lymphadenomegaly associated with methimazole treatment in a hyperthyroid cat. J Small Anim Pract. 2007 Mar;48(3):165-8.
15. Brearley MJ, Polton GA, Littler RM, Niessen SJ. Coarse fractionated radiation therapy for pituitary tumours in cats: a retrospective study of 12 cases. Vet Comp Oncol. 2006 Dec;4(4):209-17.