Dr H.L. Zaaijer (1956) has been named Professor of Blood-Transmitted Infections at the University of Amsterdam's Faculty of Medicine (AMC-UvA).

Hans Zaaijer has specialised in blood-transmitted infections since 1992. In addition to infections transmitted through blood transfusions, blood products and transplants, this includes: infections transmitted from mother to child during childbirth, infections acquired by healthcare staff in needle accidents and infections in operative patients acquired from an infected surgeon. Obviously, the meticulous prevention of blood-transmitted infections is of great importance. Amongst other achievements over the course of his career, Zaaijer helped draw up national guidelines for the prevention of iatrogenic hepatitis B, the handling of needle accidents, the screening of blood donors and the screening of organ and tissue donors. With imported infections such as dengue, West Nile fever and Chikungunya and zoonotic infections such as vCJD, Q fever and hepatitis E becoming increasingly relevant in terms of blood safety, Zaaijer's work now also extends to these types of infectious diseases. In the near future he will extend the scope of his activities to research on occult infection with the hepatitis B virus and decision-making processes with regard to the spread of infections and blood safety.

Zaaijer has served as head of the ‘Blood-transmitted Infections' department at Sanquin Research since 2008. He has worked at the AMC's Clinical Virology department as a physician-microbiologist since 2003. Prior to this time, Zaaijer worked as a physician-microbiologist at the Virology sub-laboratory of the VUmc's Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention department. Zaaijer serves as chairman of the National Commission for the Prevention of Iatrogenic Hepatitis and HIV, and member of the Health Council's Committee on the Future of the National Immunisation Programme.