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.
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.
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 for ill pets and their owners.
Teaching
Most of Stijn’s didactic teaching is to the fourth year BVetMed students (endocrine system) and to final year students during their time in the referral clinic. He also provides a small amount of teaching on other years of the BVetMed. Other teaching includes the elective course on feline medicine. In the coming year Stijn will be supervising a PhD-student 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.
Selected Publications
1. Evaluation of a quality-of-life tool for cats with diabetes mellitus. Niessen SJ, Powney S, Guitian J, Niessen AP, Pion PD, Shaw JA, Church DB. J Vet Intern Med. 2010 Sep-Oct;24(5):1098-105.
2. Feline acromegaly: an essential differential diagnosis for the difficult diabetic. Niessen SJ. J Feline Med Surg. 2010 Jan;12(1):15-23.
3. 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. In: Human Gene and Cell Therapy: 17th European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy.2009,Hannover, Germany:Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Publishers
4. 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.
5. 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. In: 16th Annual Congress of the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy. 2008, Brugge, Belgium: Human Gene Theraphy: Mary Ann Liebert Inc..
6. 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, 51(Supplement 1), S243 no. 600.
7. Autoimmune myasthenia gravis and dysautonomia in a dog. Gajanayake I, Niessen SJ, Cherubini GB, Diane Shelton G. J Small Anim Pract. 2008 Nov;49(11):593-5. Epub 2008 Aug 5.
8. 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.
9. Validation and application of a radioimmunoassay for ovine growth hormone in the diagnosis of acromegaly in cats. Niessen SJ, Khalid M, Petrie G, Church DB. Vet Rec. 2007 Jun 30;160(26):902-7.
10. Five cases of canine dysautonomia in England (2004 to 2006). Niessen SJ, Eastwood J, Smyth JB, Cherubini GB. J Small Anim Pract. 2007 Jun;48(6):346-52. Epub 2007 Apr 8.
11. Generalised lymphadenomegaly associated with methimazole treatment in a hyperthyroid cat. Niessen SJ, Voyce MJ, de Villiers L, Hargreaves J, Blunden AS, Syme HM. J Small Anim Pract. 2007 Mar;48(3):165-8.
12. Coarse fractionated radiation therapy for pituitary tumours in cats: a retrospective study of 12 cases. Brearley MJ, Polton GA, Littler RM, Niessen SJ. Vet Comp Oncol. 2006 Dec;4(4):209-17.