Preface
'Collaboration creates new perspectives'
Foreword from the Board of Directors
We're pushing the boundaries in our work to cure childhood cancer
In the Princess Máxima Center, we have brought together care and research in the field of pediatric oncology. Our mission is to cure every child with cancer, with optimal quality of life. This mission remains as urgent as ever, since one in four children diagnosed with cancer dies from the disease. And some of the children who do survive, suffer the after-effects of the disease and the intensive treatment of it for the rest of their lives.
By establishing a single center for all the patients and experts in the Netherlands, we have given an impulse to the quality of treatments and improved the conditions for research into the various forms of childhood cancer. We are a world leader in this concentration and integration. In 2022, our continued dedication to achieving our goal produced outstanding results.
We owe our existence to the support we receive throughout the Netherlands. From the health insurance companies that finance the diagnosis and treatment of childhood cancer, for example. And from our donors, on whose contributions, both large and small, we are entirely dependent to finance innovative treatments and cutting-edge research. Also important in this regard is the core funding we receive from the Children Cancer-free Foundation (KiKa) and through a grant from the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. Thanks in part to the Princess Máxima Center Foundation, we are able to develop facilities and innovations that fall outside the scope of the regular financing of healthcare. Last year, for example, we made considerable progress with the construction of a number of specialized lab facilities on the sixth and seventh floors of our center.
The early months of 2022 were marked by the continuing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on our staff and organization. With fewer staff members available for work, the pressure on the shop floor was greater than usual. The end of the pandemic signaled a gradual return to normal. But then came the shock of the war in Ukraine, which disrupted the treatment of children with cancer in that country. Since the start of the war, we have received and treated some 70 Ukrainian children. Our colleagues welcomed them with open arms. The arrival of the Ukrainian families accelerated the process of internationalization of the Máxima Center. That process, which we intend to continue in the coming years, reflects the mission and the image of our center, but also requires that the organization create the necessary conditions to make it happen.
Together with our colleagues in the UMC Utrecht/ Wilhelmina Children's Hospital (WKZ), the shared care centers, international hospitals and specialized research centers, in 2022 we made major advances in curing children with cancer and improving their quality of life in the longer term. Collaboration leads to new perspectives and enables us to contribute to and take full advantage of developments in science. As well as providing the best possible healthcare today, we are developing the best treatments for tomorrow. Innovations in various domains are already providing momentum for these new forms of treatment. For example, we have made progress with various forms of immunotherapy, including CAR T-cell therapy, and in the development of organoids and the sequencing of all tumor types.
The collaboration with other leading institutes abroad also helps us to achieve our goals. In 2022, we formed partnerships with the Sant Joán de Deu Children’s Hospital in Barcelona and with the Aghia Sofia Children’s Hospital in Athens. The existing collaboration with Hopp-Kitz in Heidelberg is continuing along the same lines as before.
In this report, you can read all about the efforts we made in pursuit of our mission in 2022. We wish to express our warm thanks to our colleagues and our partners for their dedication and we are convinced that we can continue to rely on their support in the years ahead.
Alexander Eggermont, Chief Scientific Officer (CSO)
Gita Gallé, Chief Operating Officer (COO)/ Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Rob Pieters, Chief Medical Officer (CMO)
Board of Directors, Princess Máxima Center for pediatric oncology B.V.
'We owe our existence to the support we receive throughout the Netherlands'
Board of Director’s foreword for digital annual report
We're pushing the boundaries in our work to cure childhood cancer
In the Princess Máxima Center, we have brought together care and research in the field of pediatric oncology. Our mission is to cure every child with cancer, with optimal quality of life. This mission remains as urgent as ever, since one in four children diagnosed with cancer dies from the disease. And some of the children who do survive, suffer the after-effects of the disease and the intensive treatment of it for the rest of their lives.
By establishing a single center for all the patients and experts in the Netherlands, we have given an impulse to the quality of treatments and improved the conditions for research into the various forms of childhood cancer. We are a world leader in this concentration and integration. In 2022, our continued dedication to achieving our goal produced outstanding results.
We owe our existence to the support we receive throughout the Netherlands. From the health insurance companies that finance the diagnosis and treatment of childhood cancer, for example. And from our donors, on whose contributions, both large and small, we are entirely dependent to finance innovative treatments and cutting-edge research. Also important in this regard is the core funding we receive from the Children Cancer-free Foundation (KiKa) and through a grant from the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. Thanks in part to the Princess Máxima Center Foundation, we are able to develop facilities and innovations that fall outside the scope of the regular financing of healthcare. Last year, for example, we made considerable progress with the construction of a number of specialized lab facilities on the sixth and seventh floors of our center.
'We owe our existence to the support we receive throughout the Netherlands'
The early months of 2022 were marked by the continuing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on our staff and organization. With fewer staff members available for work, the pressure on the shop floor was greater than usual. The end of the pandemic signaled a gradual return to normal. But then came the shock of the war in Ukraine, which disrupted the treatment of children with cancer in that country. Since the start of the war, we have received and treated some 70 Ukrainian children. Our colleagues welcomed them with open arms. The arrival of the Ukrainian families accelerated the process of internationalization of the Máxima Center. That process, which we intend to continue in the coming years, reflects the mission and the image of our center, but also requires that the organization create the necessary conditions to make it happen.
Together with our colleagues in the UMC Utrecht/ Wilhelmina Children's Hospital (WKZ), the shared care centers, international hospitals and specialized research centers, in 2022 we made major advances in curing children with cancer and improving their quality of life in the longer term. Collaboration leads to new perspectives and enables us to contribute to and take full advantage of developments in science. As well as providing the best possible healthcare today, we are developing the best treatments for tomorrow. Innovations in various domains are already providing momentum for these new forms of treatment. For example, we have made progress with various forms of immunotherapy, including CAR T-cell therapy, and in the development of organoids and the sequencing of all tumor types.
'Collaboration creates new perspectives'
The collaboration with other leading institutes abroad also helps us to achieve our goals. In 2022, we formed partnerships with the Sant Joán de Deu Children’s Hospital in Barcelona and with the Aghia Sofia Children’s Hospital in Athens. The existing collaboration with Hopp-Kitz in Heidelberg is continuing along the same lines as before.
In this report, you can read all about the efforts we made in pursuit of our mission in 2022. We wish to express our warm thanks to our colleagues and our partners for their dedication and we are convinced that we can continue to rely on their support in the years ahead.
Alexander Eggermont, Chief Scientific Officer (CSO)
Gita Gallé, Chief Operating Officer (COO) / Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Rob Pieters, Chief Medical Officer (CMO)
Board of Directors, Princess Máxima Center for pediatric oncology B.V.
'The Princess Máxima Scientific Advisory Board convened in Utrecht in October 2022 and was uniformly impressed by the progress made during the Máxima’s first four years and by plans for the future, including the expansion of research space, the recruitment of new faculty and the launch of new programs and partnerships to ensure that the Máxima remains at the forefront of research and treatment of childhood cancers.'
William Evans, Pharm.D.
Emeritus Faculty
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
'The Supervisory Board regards overseeing this progress from a national and international perspective, with full focus on care for children with cancer today, as one of its most important tasks. In 2022, progress has again been made on many fronts. Many people have worked hard to allow the organization to take the next step. We thank everyone involved for their efforts.'
Ir. Rokus van Iperen
Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Princess Máxima Center for pediatric oncology B.V.
'The Princess Máxima Scientific Advisory Board convened in Utrecht in October 2022 and was uniformly impressed by the progress made during the Máxima’s first four years and by plans for the future, including the expansion of research space, the recruitment of new faculty and the launch of new programs and partnerships to ensure that the Máxima remains at the forefront of research and treatment of childhood cancers.'
William Evans, Pharm.D.
Emeritus Faculty
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
'The Supervisory Board regards overseeing this progress from a national and international perspective, with full focus on care for children with cancer today, as one of its most important tasks. In 2022, progress has again been made on many fronts. Many people have worked hard to allow the organization to take the next step. We thank everyone involved for their efforts.'
Ir. Rokus van Iperen
Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Princess Máxima Center for pediatric oncology B.V.