Dr M. Prins (1964) has been appointed Professor of Public Health, specialising in the epidemiology of infectious diseases at the University of Amsterdam’s Faculty of Medicine (AMC-UvA).

Maria Prins’ research focuses on the epidemiology of sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections such as HIV and hepatitis C. Much of that research has been conducted under the auspices of the Amsterdam Cohort Studies into HIV among men who have sex with men and people who use drugs, which has been running for 25 years now. Noteworthy achievements of this research programme are the strong ties developed between the Public Health Service (GGD) of Amsterdam and target groups and participating organisations in Amsterdam, and the multidisciplinarity of that research, which is conducted in close cooperation with the AMC-UvA and University Medical Centre in Utrecht (UMCU). In 2006, the GGD and AMC-UvA launched a long-term partnership under the Academic Collaborative Centres for Public Health with the primary aim of fostering links between research, professional practice, education and policy. Within this programme, Prins leads research into new and recurring infectious diseases affecting public health.

Prins has worked in the research department of the Infectious Diseases division of the Amsterdam GGD since 1992, first as a junior researcher, later as a PhD researcher and, since 1999, as its head. Additionally, she has worked in the Internal Medicine department of the AMC-UvA since 2006, and in 2008/2009 spent four months as a senior visiting fellow at the National Institute for HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Prins is on the editorial board of the journal AIDS and has authored many publications in international peer-reviewed journals. She is also an active participant in and member of the steering committees of various international studies.