Acknowledgements
Saturday, June 7th, 2008First of all, I would like to thank God
more for making this happen.
Alhamdulillahirobil al’amin… all praise is due
to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala…
On June 6th 2008 at 12.45 I defended my thesis at Academiegebouw, University Utrecht. Just a short flash back, my story started in
April 2002, when a group of professors from the Julius Center for Health
Sciences and Primary Care, of UMC Utrecht, The Netherlands came to Jakarta for
a one week course on clinical epidemiology. This course was an eye opener for
me and showed that epidemiology is an interesting branch in medicine and is not
all about statistics! I interviewed one of the professors about life as a
clinical researcher and I thank him, who turned out to be my promotor, for
inspiration.
In October 2002, I specifically asked the program
co-ordinator at the NIHES if they had a research project for my Master’s thesis
in occupational medicine. That led me to a collaborative project between IRAS-Environmental
Epidemiology division and Julius Center for Health
Sciences and Primary Care, UMC Utrecht. From that time on, I have been working
with Prof. Dr. Dick Heederik and Prof. Dr. Diederick Grobbee, who are now my
promotors and and Dr. Evert Meijer my co-promotor. I am grateful that I had the
chance to learn a lot from these excellent persons, professionally and
personally. Thank you for everything: for the opportunity, for the
encouragement, for being a teacher and supporter all at the same time.
To everyone helping me with the bakery
project: Birgit Stuurman, Eef van Otterloo, Frits van Rooy, Isabella Oosting, Jack Spithoven, Jos Rooijackers, Jose Jacobs, Joris van Loenhout, Lieke
Gerris, Mischa Zengeni, Tim Meijster, and Vanessa Zaat, thank you for the team
work! Special thanks go to NetherlandsTim and Jack, my paranimfen.
Tim, thank you for helping me from the very beginning: finding me a room,
showing me the beauty of the Netherlands,for all the dinners with Marjoke (and Wiebe), and yet being a very informative
and constructive co-worker in the project! Jack, I have always been amazed by
the speed with which you have been running those assays! You are the only person I know who could
handle the hardest situation with laughter. Keep on being strong and cheerful!
At this occasion I would also like to thank
all who contributed to my thesis, especially Dr. Yvonne Vergouwe, who has been my
great tutor in statistical modelling. My analytical skills have also been
improving thanks to the “Prediction Club” at Julius Center,
lead by Prof. Dr. Carl Moons. The group keeps on growing in numbers and
quality. I thank Corne, Jolanda, Kristel, Diane, Peter, Lidewij, Martijn, and Teus
(the “old” members); Geert, Joris, Roelof, Mireille, Sjoerd, and Linda (the new
members); and most of all, Carl, for sharing your knowledge every other Monday.
Hope all of us will become “accurate and valid predictors”!
Montreal, Canada.
I would also like to thank Dr. Denyse
Gautrin, Dr. Jean-Luc Malo and Dr .Heberto Ghezzo for giving me a chance to do
a 1-year fellowship at the Asthma in the Workplace Centre,
It is a privilege because before the fellowship I only knew you from text books and
papers and I never thought that I would have this rare opportunity to work in
close contact with you. Merci beaucoup, it’s
been wonderful to work with you! My appreciation also goes to Sylvie, Roberto,
Lucero, Samah, Khadija, Christina, Sandra, Sebastien, and the members of the axe de recherche
en santé respiratoire, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur
de Montréal,
who made my stay a fruitful one.
To Dr. LondonMark Nieuwenhuijsen from Imperial
College-NHLI (London), Dr. David Fishwick from HSL (Sheffield), Dr. Susan
Kennedy from UBC (Vancouver), Dr.
Kathleen Kreiss from NIOSH (Morgantown), Sally Brown from the EIS program (Atlanta),
Dr. Manon Kluijtmans from Julius Center (Utrecht), Prof. Dr. Bambang Sutrisna
from FKMUI (Jakarta), Prof. dr. Sudigdo Sastroasmoro from FKUI (Jakarta), and Prof.
dr. Saleha Sungkar from YPIDI (Jakarta), it has been a great pleasure to
knowing you in person. I hope our collaboration will continue in the future.
To my seniors and colleagues at the
Community Medicine Department, especially Prof. dr. Bastaman Basuki, Prof. Dr.
Corrie Wawolumaya, dr. Zarni Amri, Dr. Muchtaruddin Mansyur dr. Novi Arifiani and
dr. Retno Asti Werdhani, thank you for your support and back up while I was
away (for such a long period!). To dr.
Nitra Rifky, thank you for giving me the very chance to enter the whole system.
To my head of department, dr. Setyawati Budiningsih, thank you for your trust
and being very supportive and open minded…
Last but not least, I’d
like to thank all my friends and the greatest people who helped me through the
good and bad times, and make these few years as one blink of an eye. To my
office mates (Mieke, Mariella, Wouter, Frank, Lot, Maaike, and Esmeralda) and my housemates (Ebru, Celal, Bilgen, Daniel, Jessica,
Maxi, Scato, Sandra, Marja and Corine), thank you for cheering up my days. Especially
Shuwen, Ilka, and Sarah, thank you for being more than good friends!
To Indonesian muslim communities (PPMR, PPME Rotterdam, PPME Den Haag, Bina
Da’wah Utrecht, and Syiar Montreal), especially to the family of Bpk. Endro
Harsono, Bpk. Rifai Hasan, Bpk. Sigit, Bpk. Lilik, Bpk. Hendro, Bpk. Ali, Mbak Debby, Mbak Martini, Bpk. Ridwan, Ibu Taty, Ibu Fatima, Mbak Wilkaziana, Mbak
Laila, Bpk. Razak, Bpk. Pourchez, Bpk. Donni, Bpk. Bachtiar, Bpk. John Kasijo, Ibu
Dewi, Mbak Nita and Mas Yusuf, Mbak Masinah and Mas Franklin, Risda and
Supardi, Eha and Andi, thank you for making me feel like being at home and
being my family abroad.
To my friends during my master course: Hamid (and Gisso
and Kiana), Made, Wangge, Isabelle, Haris, Novita, Henny, Vica, Jamaiyah, Kiad, Esther,
Elisa, Gloria, Regie, Monica, Natalia, and Daniela, thank you for the genuine friendship
and always being great supporters. To Ingrid, Evelyn,
Giene, and Annina, thank you for taking care of my paper work and arranging countless
appointments! To everyone at IRAS
EEPI, Jelena, Anjoeka, Rocio, Angeles, Fatima and Youssef, Mbak Hesti
and Anya, Mbak Anna, Mbak Imelda and Nico, Ratih, Liesye, Teddy, Ari, Jessica,
Fleur, Marije, Aicha, Nike, Ika, Vicka, Mila, Sura, Pipit, Lina, Neny, Mira, Diyah, Prapti, Vivi, Leila, Mbak Jiah and Mas Iskandar, Mbak Hermina and Rene, Atiet, Ratna, Fenida,
Kadek, Liana, Bili, Achie, Suryaningsih, Soraya, Eka and everyone in my
long list who I do not name one by one, thank you for your valuable contribution
to my achievements!
To Hapidudin, thank you for your understanding and faith in me. You were my biggest supporter during the most critical phase in my study, so this achievement is for you too! I am really glad that since the past year you have always been there for me and I wish you all the best for your study and career in near future dear!
I finally want to express my utmost
gratitude to my family for giving me freedom to do what I believe in. With out
your prayers and sincere love, I will never become of what I am. I love you!!! Untuk Bapak, Mama, Santhy, Sherley, Media
dan Clara terima kasih atas dukungan, doa, dan kasih sayang kalian. Tanpa kalian,
hari ini tidak akan menjadi kenyataan…
The Road not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both….
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost, 1920
