Ard van Sighem

02 LOWRES HIVmonitoring Ard van Sighem fotoMoniqueKooijmans.jpg

Senior researcher
Ard's research at Stichting HIV Monitoring involves investigating the course and the changes in the HIV epidemic in the Netherlands. To achieve this, Ard uses mathematical modelling as a tool to analyse the relevant data in the ATHENA cohort (the database maintained by Stichting HIV Monitoring) and other national data sources. Ard is also studying the HIV epidemic at a local level, for example in Rotterdam and Amsterdam in collaboration with the H-TEAM


Ard is also interested in the more patient-specific side of the HIV epidemic. In particular, Ard works with the Antiretroviral Therapy Cohort Collaboration (ART-CC) to investigate changes in causes of death in people living with HIV. In addition, he is involved in the HIV-CAUSAL collaboration, that analyses longitudinal data using methods to target causal interference. 

Lastly, Ard works together with the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention to estimate the size of the population of people living with HIV, including those as yet undiagnosed, in Europe, and on nationwide and regional levels.  

Key publications

Reduction in undiagnosed HIV infection in the European Union/European Economic Area, 2012 to 2016
van Sighem A, Pharris A, Quinten C, Noori T, Amato-Gauci AJ; The Ecdc HIv/Aids Surveillance And Dublin Declaration Monitoring Networks.
Euro Surveill. 2017 Nov;22(48). doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2017.22.48.17-00771. PMID: 29208159.

Cardiovascular disease prevention policy in human immunodeficiency virus: Recommendations from a modeling study
Smit M, van Zoest RA, Nichols BE, Vaartjes I, Smit C, van der Valk M, van Sighem A, Wit FW, Hallett TB, Reiss P; Netherlands AIDS Therapy Evaluation in The Netherlands (ATHENA) Observational HIV Cohort.
Clin Infect Dis. 2018 Feb 10;66(5):743-750. doi: 10.1093/cid/cix858. PMID: 29029103

Effect of immediate initiation of antiretroviral treatment on the risk of acquired HIV drug resistance
Lodi S, Günthard HF, Dunn D, Garcia F, Logan R, Jose S, Bucher HC, Scherrer AU, Schneider MP, Egger M, Glass TR, Reiss P, van Sighem A, Boender TS, Phillips AN, Porter K, Hawkins D, Moreno S, Monge S, Paraskevis D, Simeon M, Vourli G, Sabin C, Hernán MA; HIV-CAUSAL Collaboration.
AIDS. 2018 Jan 28;32(3):327-335. doi: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000001692. PMID: 29135583

Sources of HIV infection among men having sex with men and implications for prevention
Ratmann O, van Sighem A, Bezemer D, Gavryushkina A, Jurriaans S, Wensing A, de Wolf F, Reiss P, Fraser C
ATHENA observational cohort. 

Sci Transl Med. 2016 Jan 6;8(320):320ra2. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aad1863

A Method to Estimate the Size and Characteristics of HIV-positive Populations Using an Individual-based Stochastic Simulation Model
Nakagawa F, van Sighem A, Thiebaut R, Smith C, Ratmann O, Cambiano V, Albert J, Amato-Gauci A, Bezemer D, Campbell C, Commenges D, Donoghoe M, Ford D, Kouyos R, Lodwick R, Lundgren J, Pantazis N, Pharris A, Quinten C, Thorne C, Touloumi G, Delpech V, Phillips A
SSOPHIE project working group in EuroCoord. Epidemiology. 2016 Mar;27(2):247-56

Dispersion of the HIV-1 Epidemic in Men Who Have Sex with Men in the Netherlands: A Combined Mathematical Model and Phylogenetic Analysis
Bezemer D, Cori A, Ratmann O, van Sighem A, Hermanides HS, Dutilh BE, Gras L, Rodrigues Faria N, van den Hengel R, Duits AJ, Reiss P, de Wolf F, Fraser C
ATHENA observational cohort. PLoS Med. 2015 Nov 3;12(11):e1001898.

Estimating HIV Incidence, Time to Diagnosis, and the Undiagnosed HIV Epidemic Using Routine Surveillance Data
van Sighem A, Nakagawa F, De Angelis D, Quinten C, Bezemer D, de Coul EO, Egger M, de Wolf F, Fraser C, Phillips A. 
Epidemiology. 2015 Sep;26(5):653-60