DE VRIEZE Erik

Erik de Vrieze, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Personalized Medicine for Otogenetic Disorders at Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. His research focuses on the development of precision genetic therapies for inherited hearing loss and related sensory disorders, with a particular emphasis on antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapeutics and inner-ear drug delivery.

Trained as a medical biologist and geneticist, Dr. de Vrieze has pioneered the use of genetically modified zebrafish to investigate disease mechanisms and evaluate novel therapeutic strategies. During his postdoctoral research, he contributed to the preclinical development of antisense therapy for USH2A exon 13-associated retinitis pigmentosa, work that formed part of the foundation for a therapy that has since advanced to clinical testing. His research has shifted to the development of RNA-based treatments for inherited auditory disorders, including DFNA9 and DFNA22. He is co-inventor of patented antisense approaches for dominantly inherited hearing loss and has authored numerous publications on genetic hearing disorders, RNA therapeutics, and translational medicine.

Dr. de Vrieze currently coordinates the ERDERA JTC25 consortium TREAT-DFNA9, an international collaboration dedicated to advancing antisense therapeutics for DFNA9 hearing loss toward clinical translation. He is also actively engaged with hearing-loss patient organizations, including the Dutch Ear Foundation “oorfonds” and the Dutch/Belgian DFNA9 foundation, supporting their goals through scientific outreach, public engagement, and the communication of advances in genetic medicine and therapeutic development.