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Amber Römkens

  • Role: PhD Candidate

I am trained as a speech therapist and speech-language pathologist, with a passion for diagnosing and treating adults with communication and swallowing disorders caused by neurological conditions. I have therefore worked in various clinical settings. In December 2025, I started my PhD at the Radboudumc.

My PhD research focuses on whether two months of intensive speech therapy, followed by ten months of maintenance exercises, can improve speech and swallowing in people with neuromuscular diseases (NMD). As part of this approach, light resistance training will be combined with functional training to potentially enhance the overall effectiveness of the therapy. In the Netherlands, around 200,000 people live with an NMD, and nearly half experience dysarthria (speech disorder) or dysphagia (swallowing disorder). While physical exercise is encouraged for people with NMD, speech therapy often focuses on compensatory strategies. Because orofacial muscles differ from skeletal muscles, it is still unclear how they respond to training. Outcome measures will be assessed at the levels of functioning, participation, and muscle (using ultrasound).

This study includes three NMDs: myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD), and inclusion body myositis (IBM).

My supervisors are Prof. dr. Jan Groothuis (Radboudumc, Rehabilitation), dr. Simone Knuijt (Radboudumc, Rehabilitation), dr. Karlien Mul (Radboudumc, Neurology) and dr. Sanne Diepeveen (HAN University of Applied Sciences).

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