Who I am
I
was born in Jakarta Indonesia (1927). My mother was a pianist, my father
an advisor in religious matters and Islamic law of the former Dutch government
of Indonesia.
I studied medicine and took an MD and a PhD degree at Leiden
University, The Netherlands.
Thereafter I specialized in Pathology.
For 12 years I did medical-biological research in organ transplantation,
immunological diseases and the experimental treatment of leukemia at a semi-governmental
radiobiological research
institute. In 1967 I was appointed as full professor of pathology at the Faculty
of Medicine of the Erasmus University Rotterdam. There I initiated research in
Biopsychosocial Medicine. My
life-long interest in cancer and cancer treatment culminated in a series of studies
on the influence of psychosocial factors and psychological support on the quality
of life of cancer
patients and the course of cancer.
In this period I qualified as a psychotherapist in Gestalt
therapy at the Dutch Gestalt Institute and in Psychosynthesis at The Institute
for Psychosynthesis in London.
In 1988 I founded The Helen Dowling Institute for Biopsychosocial Medicine (HDI) in Rotterdam ,
The Netherlands. This Institute is dedicated to research in biopsychosocial factors
in the development and the course of cancer and HIV-infection. In addition the
institute has a
counselling centre where psychological support is given to people with cancer
and
HIV-infection. HDI is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Health.
I am retired, now, but to my great joy a young and dedicated
staff is continuing the work at HDI. I have four children and five grandchildren.
My wife died unexpectedly in 2000 at the age of 60.