Women in Science: meet Kitty Maassen

Why did you go into science?

I really loved biology at school, especially population genetics. I kind of rolled into science through my biology study. My interest moved from genetics to microbiology, and I have never stopped loving it.

Do you see more women in scientific roles today?

Yes, I do! It is great to see that a lot of girls dare to choose to go into research nowadays. Especially in health-related topics this is the case, and you see even more women than men. Also, at Winclove there is a majority of women in the R&D department.

Why is research in the field of UTIs so important?

UTIs are one of the most common bacterial infections and affect millions of people globally, especially women. Many individuals, primarily women but also men, experience recurrent UTIs (rUTIs), which significantly impact quality of life. This burden drives ongoing research. In addition, since most acute UTIs are treated with antibiotics and people suffering from rUTI often get antibiotics to prevent further rUTI, there is a risk for development of resistance against the antibiotics, which would in the long term reduce the chances of treating UTIs.

How do you see the field of UTIs evolving?

There is a lot going on, but one of the main goals would be to reduce the use of antibiotics. Antibiotics do treat the acute infection, but it also disturbs the microbiome which is detrimental for the patients in the long run. Research should therefore focus on microbiome modulation — both in the gut and bladder, now that we know the bladder is not sterile. Probiotics offer a microbiome-friendly approach that may help alleviate the burden of recurrent UTIs, as currently being investigated in the observational BRIGHT study.