The Medische en Wetenschappelijke Advies Raad (MWAR, Medical and Scientific Advisory Board) advises B12 Institute and the B12 Research Group on medical-scientific affairs. MWAR –members are scientists from university medical hospitals. They are experts in the research domain and offer information and advice on new and running studies concerning B12 deficiency diagnosis and treatment. The ultimate and collective goal of MWAR is the improvement and optimization of B12 and/or folate deficiency diagnosis and treatment.
The MWAR members are:
Ingrid Rours
Ingrid Rours graduated as a medical doctor at Amsterdam University in 1990. During and after her university education she worked for Red Cross, Amsterdam Burgerziekenhuis Internal medicine department, as a medical doctor for KLM Tanzania and as a Medical Officer Pediatrics in Bangladesh. At the same time she carried out research into malnutrition and diarrhea in Brazil and Bangladesh.
In 1991 she moved to South Africa, where she specialized in pediatrics. There she worked in the General pediatrics and Child abuse departments at Soweto and Johannesburg University College Hospitals; she also initiated an investigation into Chlamydia trachomatis infections among pregnant women and newborns there. Upon returning to the Netherlands in 1997 Rours started work as a general pediatrician, specialized in child abuse and childhood infectious diseases. She subspecialized in Neonatal medicine, carried out academic research and studied Journey Therapy.
In 2008 she shifted her focus from pediatric emergency care to pediatric non-emergency care. Since then she has been working with children with ADHD, disorders in the autistic spectrum, other social-emotional and behaviour problems, psychosomatic disorders and chronic physical problems. In 2010 she took her doctoral degree at Rotterdam Erasmus University and graduated as a Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology at Rotterdam NIHES.
In 2011 Rours started the independent treatment center Kinderpraktijk Hillegersberg in North Rotterdam, later changing to independent treatment center Kinderplein in South Rotterdam. She is part of the European Brain Employers, an EU project aimed at studying ADHD, autism, giftedness, dyslexia en dyscalculia.
Because of her expertise in the area of ADHD, autism and giftedness, in addition to her knowledge in the field of epidemiology she is considered a major asset for B12 Institute.
Kinderplein: http://www.mckinderplein.nl/
Lindsay Allen, Ph.D.
Dr. Lindsay Allen is a Research Professor at University of California, Davis, Department of Nutrition. Within that university she is also the Director of the UCD Western Human Nutrition Research Center, focusing on the prevalence, causes, consequences and prevention of micronutrient deficiencies including iron, vitamin B-12, zinc, vitamin A and riboflavin. Dr Allen has done a lot of research on maternal B12 deficiency and its short and long term effects on the (unborn) child.
The MWAR has several meetings a year, live or online. Members do not receive payment.
Miri Wanis, Medical doctor
My name is Miri Wanis. I trained as a pediatrician in Syria and Armenia, and graduated in 2003. I returned to Syria where I worked in various children’s outpatient clinics. Unfortunately, I had to move to the Netherlands because of the bad security conditions there.
I have been living in the Netherlands for six years now. My qualifications are not valid here, so I had to retrain. I learned the Dutch language at Leiden University Language center and after that I took my medical exams. I completed my studies doing my internships at LUMC. I am BIG-registered now and allowed to work as a medical doctor here.
A medical doctor has to be a good listener in order to diagnose and treat patients, and give patients time to find words for what they need to say. That’s the main aspect of my work as a doctor.
It is nice to be on the B12 Institute staff and help B12 deficiency patients in the best way possible.
I wish you health and peace!
Kind regards,
Miri Wanis