Hanneke van Laarhoven's research focuses on the identification of biomarkers for survival, response to treatment, toxicity and quality of life, and on acquiring insight into the underlying mechanistic and biological factors that influence the effectiveness of new and existing cancer treatments. For her research, she collaborates with researchers from the psychosocial sciences, the exact sciences and the humanities.

Van Laarhoven has been working since 2012 as an internist oncologist at the AMC, where she is also a principal investigator. She has PhDs in both medicine and religious studies. Van Laarhoven has received research grants from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and from the KWF Dutch Cancer Society, among others. She is a board member of the Dutch Oesophageal Cancer Group, as well as The Young Academy (DJA) of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).