As pulmonary physician, Jouke Annema is specialised in endosonography techniques that use sound waves to examine lymph glands and tumours of the chest. He has initiated and coordinated a wide range of international studies on how these innovative techniques can be used to improve the diagnosis of various lung conditions.

Annema has demonstrated that for lung cancer staging, endosonography results in better outcomes in comparison with traditional surgical approaches. This has led to changes in the guidelines for the work-up of lung cancer and a subsequent reduction in the number of unnecessary lung operations by half. In addition, Annema found that sarcoidosis, a chronic disease which often affects the lungs, can be more accurately diagnosed using endosonography in comparison with conventional bronchoscopy.

For over a decade, Annema has been teaching courses in the Netherlands and other countries with the aim of training doctors in the use of these new techniques. He previously received a grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMW) to conduct a national implementation study. Annema has also developed instruments to measure the competency of endoscopic capabilities and is closely involved in the development of simulator-based training programmes. At the AMC-UvA, Annema will explore novel endoscopic diagnostic and treatment options for various lung diseases. Alongside his work in endosonography, he will focus specifically on the treatment of patients with severe asthma (thermoplasty) and COPD/pulmonary emphysema (endoscopic lung volume reduction).

Annema has worked as a pulmonary physician and head of Pulmonary Endoscopy at the AMC-UvA since April 2012. Previously, he was affiliated with the Leiden University Medical Center. He is chair of the Endoscopy working group of the Netherlands Association of Physicians for Lung Diseases and Tuberculosis (Nederlandse Vereniging van Artsen voor Longziekten en Tuberculose, NVALT) and secretary of the European Respiratory Society’s (ERS) Interventional Pulmonology working group. Annema has published  articles in journals, including JAMA, Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, European Respiratory Journal, Journal of Thoracic Oncology and Endoscopy.