For many years, doctors Eline Allard and Lando Janssen were not just a couple but also colleagues. Last week, they both received their PhDs, on the same day, from the same PhD supervisor. Both cum laude as well.

As Eline Allard and Lando Janssen readily admit: it was no coincidence that they were presented with their PhD degrees on the same day. ‘I’d actually finished a few years ago’, says Janssen. ‘But we started our PhD at about the same time, so we thought it would be nice to finish together.’

The reason why Allard took a bit longer was because she combined her PhD research with a GP training programme. After completing his PhD thesis, Janssen embarked on a specialisation pathway to become a haematologist.

Competitors

They have been together since 2013. The spark ignited after a research internship as part of the Honours Academy. One thing led to another – they moved in together in Arnhem and this year they had a son.

In 2016, Allard and Janssen became colleagues. They both entered an internal competition at Radboud university medical center, in which young doctors could win a PhD position. ‘That made us competitors for a while’, laughs Allard.

‘Everyone thought it would be a good idea if we didn’t share an office’

She eventually won the position but Professor Maria Hopman from the Department of Physiology also liked Janssen’s proposal: he was offered a PhD position too. Being a couple was not an issue. ‘However, everyone did think it would be a good idea if we didn’t share an office’, says Janssen. ‘Otherwise, we worked together very well.’

Common ground

Allard and Janssen regularly conducted research together, collaborating on the same scientific publications. If either of them was indisposed, the other would take their place. ‘Obviously, we hardly need to explain anything to each other’, says Allard.

The two doctors’ research therefore had common ground. Both studied the side effects of certain drugs on muscles. In Allard’s case, these were statins, cholesterol-lowering drugs. Part of her research involved participants in the Nijmegen Four Day Marches.

‘We are the only ones who could really have taken on each other’s defence’

Janssen studied the side effects of relatively new medication for patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia, a rather rare form of blood cancer. ‘Common side effects of those drugs are muscle problems’, he explains. Janssen’s research sheds light on exactly why this is the case.

On Tuesday 19 November, Allard and Janssen were both due to defend their research. And again they sort of did it together, because they were each other’s paranymphs. ‘I think we were the only ones who could really have taken on each other’s defence’, says Allard. This ultimately proved unnecessary because the committee awarded both PhD candidates cum laude.