In her current position as an assistant professor at the University of Twente (Health Technology and Services Research), and affiliated with Medisch Spectrum Twente, Anke successfully co-applied for a European Union Horizon2020 RE-SAMPLE project, a collaboration between 10 European partners. In this project, as the Dutch principal investigator, she uses diaries and action plans to predict exacerbations to start early disease management, and evaluates patient phenotypes likely to benefit from disease management. As clinical coordinator of RE-SAMPLE, she coordinates the collaboration between three European hospitals and establishes the open research data policy to safeguard the data are preserved in a sustainable and accessible way. Furthermore, Anke is one of the leaders of the ‘Technology in Healthcare Transformations’ (THT) research group at the University of Twente, aiming to make technology-driven changes in healthcare transformations efficient, effective and sustainable.

In 2017, Anke completed her PhD at the department of Pulmonary Medicine, Medisch Spectrum Twente, the Netherlands and obtained a joint Doctor degree as part of a Cotutelle agreement, a doctoral program that she undertook jointly at the University of Twente and Flinders University Australia. As a principal investigator, she evaluated the effects of self-management interventions for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and comorbidities in an international randomised controlled trial. She visited Adelaide for two four-month research periods, and organised meetings with experts in the field of COPD, self-management and methodology to discuss and disseminate results.

Anke presented her research findings at international conferences such as the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress and American Thoracic Society (ATS), leading to international academic awards including the ATS International Trainee Scholarship Award and a Lung Foundation Australia-Cochrane Airways Australia Scholarship. She also received national grants, which enabled her assessing patient adherence to COPD action plans using a novel adherence assessment approach and to develop a digital self-management intervention for COPD patients with chronic heart failure.

Anke translates her research experience, knowledge and skills into teaching in epidemiology and clinical research methods, and in co-supervision of PhD students and supervision of Master and Bachelor students. Furthermore, she is the guest advisor for an article collection on personalised COPD self-management interventions, where she is invited to write an editorial. Anke reviews manuscripts for the journal Chronic Respiratory Disease as Editorial Review Board member. As chair of the Netherlands Respiratory Society (NRS) Young Investigator Board (2018-2021), she organised events for young researchers in the respiratory field.