René Westhovens

30.6k total citations · 3 hit papers
353 papers, 11.3k citations indexed

About

René Westhovens is a scholar working on Rheumatology, Pathology and Forensic Medicine and Hematology. According to data from OpenAlex, René Westhovens has authored 353 papers receiving a total of 11.3k indexed citations (citations by other indexed papers that have themselves been cited), including 232 papers in Rheumatology, 99 papers in Pathology and Forensic Medicine and 87 papers in Hematology. Recurrent topics in René Westhovens's work include Rheumatoid Arthritis Research and Therapies (194 papers), Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Research (80 papers) and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Research (79 papers). René Westhovens is often cited by papers focused on Rheumatoid Arthritis Research and Therapies (194 papers), Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Research (80 papers) and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Research (79 papers). René Westhovens collaborates with scholars based in Belgium, United States and Netherlands. René Westhovens's co-authors include Patrick Verschueren, Jean‐Claude Becker, Joel M. Kremer, Maarten Boers, Anthony S. Russell, Paul Emery, Larry W. Moreland, Xavier Bossuyt, Rieke Alten and Patrick Durez and has published in prestigious journals such as New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet and Journal of Clinical Oncology.

In The Last Decade

René Westhovens

340 papers receiving 10.9k citations

Hit Papers

Treatment of Rheumatoid A... 1997 2026 2006 2016 2003 1997 2006 250 500 750
What are hit papers?

Hit papers significantly outperform the citation benchmark for their cohort. A paper qualifies if it has ≥500 total citations, achieves ≥1.5× the top-1% citation threshold for papers in the same subfield and year (this is the minimum needed to enter the top 1%, not the average within it), or reaches the top citation threshold in at least one of its specific research topics.

  1. Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis by Selective Inhibition of T-Cell Activation with Fusion Protein CTLA4Ig
    2003 807 citations Joel M. Kremer, René Westhovens et al. New England Journal of Medicine profile →
  2. Randomised comparison of combined step-down prednisolone, methotrexate and sulphasalazine with sulphasalazine alone in early rheumatoid arthritis
    1997 800 citations Maarten Boers, René Westhovens et al. profile →
  3. Effects of Abatacept in Patients with Methotrexate-Resistant Active Rheumatoid Arthritis
    2006 558 citations Joel M. Kremer, Harry K. Genant et al. profile →

Peers — A (Enhanced Table)

Peers by citation overlap · career bar shows stage (early→late) cites · hero ref

Name h Career Trend Papers Cites
René Westhovens Belgium 49 7.1k 2.7k 2.4k 1.7k 1.6k 353 11.3k
Bernard Combe France 64 10.1k 1.4× 3.7k 1.4× 3.3k 1.3× 1.8k 1.0× 2.0k 1.3× 481 14.3k
Joan M. Bathon United States 61 7.8k 1.1× 2.8k 1.0× 2.0k 0.8× 1.2k 0.7× 1.6k 1.0× 174 12.3k
Kimme L Hyrich United Kingdom 63 7.6k 1.1× 3.8k 1.4× 3.2k 1.3× 1.3k 0.7× 1.6k 1.0× 313 12.2k
Gianfranco Ferraccioli Italy 59 6.0k 0.8× 1.7k 0.6× 2.7k 1.1× 2.1k 1.2× 1.6k 1.0× 370 11.5k
Arthur Kavanaugh United States 44 7.6k 1.1× 3.5k 1.3× 4.1k 1.7× 1.2k 0.7× 1.5k 1.0× 195 11.4k
Roberto Caporali Italy 56 5.7k 0.8× 1.7k 0.6× 2.2k 0.9× 1.1k 0.7× 1.1k 0.7× 450 10.4k
Annette H M van der Helm–van Mil Netherlands 56 9.6k 1.4× 2.1k 0.8× 2.3k 0.9× 1.2k 0.7× 1.2k 0.8× 350 12.3k
Rieke Alten Germany 45 6.5k 0.9× 2.7k 1.0× 3.3k 1.4× 881 0.5× 929 0.6× 221 9.6k
F. C. Breedveld Netherlands 52 6.9k 1.0× 2.5k 0.9× 2.2k 0.9× 1.1k 0.6× 1.0k 0.7× 119 10.2k
Kaleb Michaud United States 62 8.5k 1.2× 3.0k 1.1× 2.0k 0.8× 1.8k 1.0× 1.3k 0.8× 266 13.7k

Countries citing papers authored by René Westhovens

Since Specialization
Citations

This map shows the geographic impact of René Westhovens's research. It shows the number of citations coming from papers published by authors working in each country. You can also color the map by specialization and compare the number of citations received by René Westhovens with the expected number of citations based on a country's size and research output (numbers larger than one mean the country cites René Westhovens more than expected).

Fields of papers citing papers by René Westhovens

Since Specialization
Physical SciencesHealth SciencesLife SciencesSocial Sciences

This network shows the impact of papers produced by René Westhovens. Nodes represent research fields, and links connect fields that are likely to share authors. Colored nodes show fields that tend to cite the papers produced by René Westhovens. The network helps show where René Westhovens may publish in the future.

Co-authorship network of co-authors of René Westhovens

This figure shows the co-authorship network connecting the top 25 collaborators of René Westhovens. A scholar is included among the top collaborators of René Westhovens based on the total number of citations received by their joint publications. Widths of edges represent the number of papers authors have co-authored together. Node borders signify the number of papers an author published with René Westhovens. René Westhovens is excluded from the visualization to improve readability, since they are connected to all nodes in the network.

All Works

20 of 20 papers shown
1.
Mariette, Xavier, Sven Borchmann, Sandrine Aspeslagh, et al.. (2025). Major adverse cardiovascular, thromboembolic and malignancy events in the filgotinib rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis clinical development programmes. RMD Open. 11(1). e005033–e005033. 1 indexed citations
2.
Westhovens, René, Kevin Winthrop, Arthur Kavanaugh, et al.. (2025). Safety and efficacy of filgotinib in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: final results of the DARWIN 3 long-term extension study. RMD Open. 11(1). e004857–e004857. 2 indexed citations
3.
Burmester, Gerd R, Jacques‐Eric Gottenberg, Roberto Caporali, et al.. (2024). Integrated safety analysis of filgotinib in patients with moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis over a treatment duration of up to 8.3 years. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. 83(9). 1110–1117. 9 indexed citations
4.
Pazmiño, Sofia, Anikó Lovik, Annelies Boonen, et al.. (2022). New indicator for discordance between patient-reported and traditional disease activity outcomes in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis. Lara D. Veeken. 62(1). 108–115. 8 indexed citations
5.
Schreiber, Stefan, Shomron Ben‐Horin, Rieke Alten, et al.. (2022). Perspectives on Subcutaneous Infliximab for Rheumatic Diseases and Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Before, During, and After the COVID-19 Era. Advances in Therapy. 39(6). 2342–2364. 22 indexed citations
6.
Stouten, Veerle, René Westhovens, Sofia Pazmiño, et al.. (2021). Five-year treat-to-target outcomes after methotrexate induction therapy with or without other csDMARDs and temporary glucocorticoids for rheumatoid arthritis in the CareRA trial. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. 80(8). 965–973. 21 indexed citations
7.
Westhovens, René, Seán Connolly, Yedid Elbez, et al.. (2020). Up to 5-year retention of abatacept in Belgian patients with moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis: a sub-analysis of the international, observational ACTION study. Rheumatology International. 40(9). 1409–1421. 5 indexed citations
8.
Elst, Kristien Van der, Patrick Verschueren, Diederik De Cock, et al.. (2020). One in five patients with rapidly and persistently controlled early rheumatoid arthritis report poor well-being after 1 year of treatment. RMD Open. 6(1). e001146–e001146. 24 indexed citations
9.
Crins, Martine, Leo D. Roorda, Niels Smits, et al.. (2015). Calibration and Validation of the Dutch-Flemish PROMIS Pain Interference Item Bank in Patients with Chronic Pain. PLoS ONE. 10(7). e0134094–e0134094. 36 indexed citations
10.
Goes, Marlies C. van der, J. W. G. Jacobs, Tim Andrews, et al.. (2013). EULAR evidence-based and consensus-based recommendations on the management of medium to high-dose glucocorticoid therapy in rheumatic diseases. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. 72(12). 1905–1913. 180 indexed citations
11.
Gheysens, Olivier, Jasmien Cornillie, Jens‐Uwe Voigt, Jan Bogaert, & René Westhovens. (2013). Left Atrial Myxoma on FDG-PET/CT. Clinical Nuclear Medicine. 38(11). e421–e422. 13 indexed citations
12.
Hilderson, Deborah, Philip Moons, Carine Wouters, & René Westhovens. (2011). Adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: What do they know about their condition?. Lirias (KU Leuven). 2 indexed citations
13.
Westhovens, René, Filip De Keyser, Е. Л. Насонов, et al.. (2011). A twelve-week exploratory phase II trial of GLPG0259 versus placebo in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis and inadequate response to methotrexate. Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University). 1 indexed citations
14.
Haraoui, Boulos, Patrick Durez, René Westhovens, et al.. (2010). Disease Remission is Achieved Within Two Years In Over Half of Methotrexate Naive Patients with Early Erosive Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Treated with Abatacept Plus MTX: Results from The AGREE Trial. The Journal of Rheumatology. 37(6). 1287–1288. 5 indexed citations
15.
Sciot, Raf, et al.. (2010). MALIGNANT INVOLVEMENT OF THE KNEE SYNOVIUM IN A PATIENT WITH METASTASTIC OESOPHAGEAL ADENOCARCINOMA. Acta Clinica Belgica. 65(1). 48–50. 1 indexed citations
16.
Westhovens, René, Patrick Durez, M. Robles, et al.. (2008). The efficacy and safety of abatacept in methotrexate-naive patients with early erosive rheumatoid arthritis and poor prognostic factors. Digital Access to Libraries (Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), l'Université de Namur (UNamur) and the Université Saint-Louis (USL-B)). 58(9). 25 indexed citations
17.
Hoes, Jos N., Johannes W. G. Jacobs, Maarten Boers, et al.. (2007). EULAR evidence-based recommendations on the management of systemic glucocorticoid therapy in rheumatic diseases. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. 66(12). 1560–1567. 281 indexed citations
18.
Westhovens, René, Frédéric Houssiau, Johan Joly, et al.. (2006). A phase I study assessing the safety, clinical response, and pharmacokinetics of an experimental infliximab formulation for subcutaneous or intramuscular administration in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.. Digital Access to Libraries (Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), l'Université de Namur (UNamur) and the Université Saint-Louis (USL-B)). 33(5). 847–53. 17 indexed citations
19.
Durez, Patrick, René Westhovens, Filip Van den Bosch, et al.. (2006). Four year follow-up of infliximab in rheumatoid arthritis patients refractory to multiple dmard treatment: Long-term clinical effect and prediction of attrition.. Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University). 1 indexed citations
20.
Kremer, Joel M., René Westhovens, Marc Léon, et al.. (2003). Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis by Selective Inhibition of T-Cell Activation with Fusion Protein CTLA4Ig. New England Journal of Medicine. 349(20). 1907–1915. 807 indexed citations breakdown →

Rankless uses publication and citation data sourced from OpenAlex, an open and comprehensive bibliographic database. While OpenAlex provides broad and valuable coverage of the global research landscape, it—like all bibliographic datasets—has inherent limitations. These include incomplete records, variations in author disambiguation, differences in journal indexing, and delays in data updates. As a result, some metrics and network relationships displayed in Rankless may not fully capture the entirety of a scholar's output or impact.

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