Dr. Coen D.A. Stehouwer is a distinguished professor and leading authority in cardiovascular disease research with a specialization in diabetes complications. He currently serves as a senior researcher and principal investigator at the CARIM School for Cardiovascular Diseases, Maastricht University, where he has established one of Europe's premier research groups focused on vascular complications of metabolic disorders. With extensive clinical training in internal medicine and advanced research expertise in epidemiology, Dr. Stehouwer has built a remarkable career bridging clinical practice and population-based research to understand the pathophysiological mechanisms linking diabetes to cardiovascular disease. His leadership at CARIM has positioned the institute as a globally recognized center for innovative research on microvascular dysfunction and its role in cardiometabolic diseases.
Dr. Stehouwer's groundbreaking research has fundamentally transformed our understanding of how prediabetes and type 2 diabetes contribute to microvascular dysfunction, which serves as a critical pathway to cardiovascular disease and other complications. His seminal 2016 study demonstrated that microvascular impairment begins in the prediabetic stage and progressively worsens with type 2 diabetes, challenging previous assumptions about the timeline of vascular damage in metabolic disorders. This work established that impaired microvascular function in the retina and skin is independently associated with hyperglycemia, providing crucial evidence for early intervention strategies to prevent diabetes-related complications. The implications of his research extend beyond cardiovascular disease to conditions of microvascular origin such as heart failure, cognitive decline, and chronic kidney disease, fundamentally reshaping clinical approaches to diabetes management.
Beyond his research contributions, Dr. Stehouwer has been instrumental in shaping international understanding of cardiovascular risk assessment through his leadership in major epidemiological consortia and his editorial roles in prominent medical journals. He has mentored numerous cardiovascular researchers who have established independent careers across Europe, significantly expanding the field's capacity to address diabetes-related complications. As a principal investigator on multiple European Research Council grants, he continues to advance our understanding of early vascular changes in metabolic disorders, with current work focusing on identifying novel biomarkers for microvascular damage detection. His translational research approach bridges basic science with clinical practice, positioning his findings to have profound implications for preventing diabetes-related complications through early intervention strategies and personalized medicine approaches.
