{"id":75520,"date":"2026-01-18T11:44:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T10:44:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cmtc.nl\/blog\/2026\/01\/18\/promotie-dr-patrick-kemperman\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T16:11:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T14:11:23","slug":"promotion-dr-patrick-kemperman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cmtc.nl\/en\/blog\/2026\/01\/18\/promotion-dr-patrick-kemperman\/","title":{"rendered":"Promotion Dr. Patrick Kemperman"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"102\" data-end=\"616\">On Friday, December 12 2025, dermatologist Patrick Kemperman, one of our advisors, successfully defended his PhD at the University of Amsterdam. His research focused on so-called <strong data-start=\"276\" data-end=\"302\">delusional infestation<\/strong> (also known as parasitic delusion): a rare psychiatric disorder in which individuals are convinced that parasites or insects are present on or in their body, despite the absence of medical evidence. The condition causes severe psychological distress, social isolation, and a significantly reduced quality of life.<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"618\" data-end=\"633\">Recognition<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"635\" data-end=\"1017\">\u201cIn my clinical practice, I see patients who present with itching and stress,\u201d says Kemperman. \u201cThese are symptoms the patients genuinely experience, yet there is no identifiable medical cause. They believe they are carrying parasites or insects, but medically we cannot substantiate this. This can be extremely frustrating. For patients, it is often a long search for recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"1019\" data-end=\"1039\">Psychiatric care<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"1041\" data-end=\"1535\">This motivated Patrick to explore the condition in greater depth. \u201cFor our research, we compared a group of patients with delusional infestation to a control group,\u201d Kemperman explains. \u201cWe found that the itching is not caused by a skin disease, but by the way the body perceives signals. Itching after scabies, certain medications, and drugs such as cocaine can trigger the condition. Patients with these complaints often first consult a dermatologist, but they also require psychiatric care.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"1537\" data-end=\"1550\">Diagnosis<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"1552\" data-end=\"1947\">One of the key conclusions of Kemperman\u2019s research is that the diagnosis is often made at a late stage. \u201cThe longer it takes before the diagnosis is established, the more difficult treatment becomes,\u201d Kemperman says. \u201cEarly recognition and close collaboration between dermatology and psychiatry help to initiate treatment sooner, thereby limiting the impact of the condition on patients\u2019 lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"1949\" data-end=\"1962\">Treatment<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"1964\" data-end=\"2361\">Kemperman also examined which treatment approaches are most effective for these patients. \u201cWe now know that directly telling someone that their symptoms are imagined does not work. Patients feel dismissed, while it is crucial to investigate their symptoms very carefully. A gradual, symptom-focused approach appears to be far more effective in building trust and collaboration,\u201d Patrick concludes.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2363\" data-end=\"2438\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"><strong data-start=\"2363\" data-end=\"2413\">Want to learn more about Kemperman\u2019s research?<\/strong><br data-start=\"2413\" data-end=\"2416\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/dare.uva.nl\/search?field1=keyword;value1=kemperman%20;docsPerPage=1;startDoc=3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read his dissertation.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Friday, December 12 2025, dermatologist Patrick Kemperman, one of our advisors, successfully defended his PhD at the University of Amsterdam. His research focused on so-called delusional infestation (also known as parasitic delusion): a rare psychiatric disorder in which individuals are convinced that parasites or insects are present on or in their body, despite the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75515,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[297],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Promotion Dr. Patrick Kemperman - CMTC-OVM<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cmtc.nl\/en\/blog\/2026\/01\/18\/promotion-dr-patrick-kemperman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Promotion Dr. Patrick Kemperman - CMTC-OVM\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On Friday, December 12 2025, dermatologist Patrick Kemperman, one of our advisors, successfully defended his PhD at the University of Amsterdam. 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