It is with sadness that we heard of the death of our colleague Dr. Jan Holsheimer on February 21, 2021.
Jan was a scientific staff member of the Department of Bio-informatica, the current Department of Biomedical Signals and Systems, from 1965 to 2006. Until his departure as Associate Professor, Jan worked from our group on his own and internationally recognized line of research, in which he also offered - in a warm and hospitable manner, together with his wife Ria - attention and guidance to PhD students. Even after his retirement Jan remained active in his field for a long time. We have known Jan as a passionate researcher and a good colleague.
Jan started his career as a biologist in a technical academic environment in the early years of the University of Twente, then Technische Hogeschool Twente. In this multidisciplinary setting he made important contributions to new concepts for electrical stimulation of the central nervous system. From the beginning, he was driven by clinical questions that he could help solve with this. In the 1960s, together with neurologists, he was already doing electrical measurements on the brains of patients.
Over the years, Jan has played an important role in developing new methods of electrical stimulation of the spinal cord and brain in order to reduce chronic pain and improve movement control in patients with Parkinson's disease. World-leading medical experts and companies knew how to find him for collaboration and advice. In this setting, his work has made a significant contribution to improving the quality of life of patients. It is with good reason that he has been appointed Honorary Member of the International Neuromodulation Society because of this contribution.
It is noteworthy that in the course of time Jan himself developed Parkinson's disease. This disease has increasingly limited his ability to function over the past decades. Yet this has not prevented him from enjoying his retirement together with Ria in the past 15 years.
We wish Ria, Marcel and the other family members much strength in coping with this loss.
Prof.dr.ir. Peter Veltink and Dr.ir. Jan R. Buitenweg
Department of Biomedical Signals and Systems, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Twente
