Founders

/J.A.%20Lafranca<sup>%20MD,%20PhD,%20MSc</sup>
J.A. Lafranca is founder of 4Abstracts and her parts. He is also responsible for the website and technical logistics. He has a PhD in Transplant Surgery and an MSc in Healthcare Management. He works as Chief Operational Officer at GeriCall and is owner of PhoenixWeb Media
/R.S.%20van%20Onkelen<sup>%20MD,%20PhD,%20MSc</sup>
R.S. van Onkelen MD, PhD, MSc
R.S. van Onkelen is one of the founders of 4Abstracts and her parts. He works as a clinical psychiatrist.

What is 4Abstracts?

The volume of published medical literature grows faster than any clinician can reasonably keep pace with. Missing an important study shouldn't be a matter of time — it should be a matter of choice.

4Abstracts was founded by Robbert S. van Onkelen and Jeff A. Lafranca, two Rotterdam-trained physicians who believed that staying current shouldn't require hours of journal browsing. Their solution was simple: a free, curated email service that delivers the most relevant abstracts from the leading journals in your specialty, directly to your inbox.

What started as a single digest for general medicine has grown into a platform of 12 specialist newsletters — covering fields from cardiology and transplantation to geriatrics, plastic surgery, and clinical pharmacology — each maintained by a dedicated editorial team of doctors and medical students. Every issue is carefully selected, not algorithmically generated.

Whether you have five minutes between patients or an hour on a Sunday morning, 4Abstracts keeps you informed. No subscriptions, no paywalls, no noise — just the research that matters, in the specialty you care about.

Knowledge is for everyone, so sign up now.
4Abstracts Recent news
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News
New editors
September 01, 2025
🩺 Meet Milou van Riswijk– Editor at 4Medicine!
We’re excited to introduce Milou van Riswijk, MD as one of the editors at 4M, the Internal Medicine section of 4Abstracts. Milou brings both research and clinical experience to the team. She previously worked as a clinical researcher at the Radboudumc and is now an Internal Medicine resident (non-training) at Rijnstate Hospital in Arnhem. Her combined academic and clinical perspective helps ensure that 4M delivers relevant, high-quality summaries of the latest internal medicine literature — directly to physicians and trainees who want to stay up to date, efficiently.
🩺 Meet Milou van Riswijk– Editor at 4Medicine!
June 24, 2025
Welcome Anne Levering @4Medicine
A.D. Levering is an editor of 4M. She studies medicine at the University of Groningen.
Welcome Anne Levering @4Medicine
June 23, 2025
Welcome Leah Mutlu
L. Mutlu is editor of 4M. She studies Medicine at the University of Amsterdam.
Welcome Leah Mutlu
June 22, 2025
Welcome Tim
Tim Swaab is Editor in Chief of 4T. He is currently a PhD-candidate at the Department of Surgery at the University Medical Center Groningen. The main focus of his doctoral research is pancreas transplantation, specifically preoperative imaging and molecular diagnostics.
Welcome Tim
May 23, 2025
Welcome Juul Aarts @4CP
J.W. Aarts is editor of 4CP. She works as a clinical pharmacist in training at the Amsterdam University Medical Centre.
Welcome Juul Aarts @4CP
May 21, 2025
Welcome Heleen!
H.A. Crommelin is editor of 4CP. She works as a clinical pharmacologist and hospital pharmacist at the University Medical Centre Utrecht.
Welcome Heleen!
January 03, 2019
New website online!
After five years, we have a brand new website! Including brand new logos and a new style. Feel free to leave a comment or message for feedback! Currently we have about 6000 unique subscribers in total! No need to say we are very proud of this result!
New website online!
December 06, 2018
Relaunch 4NeuroSurgery
Although it is not a new spin-off, we do hope we can succesfully launch after some time! We are talking about 4Neurosurgery (4NS)! We will soon start with sending our issues, make sure you are subscribed! 4NS is a free email service that gives you a monthly summary of the latest published abstracts of original articles, reviews, and trials in the four leading neurosurgical journals: Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry; Acta Neurochirurgica; Neurosurgery; and Journal of Neurosurgery.
Relaunch 4NeuroSurgery
October 04, 2018
New to the family: 4Cardiology!
Our latest addition is 4Cardiology (4C)! We will soon start with sending our issues, make sure you are subscribed! 4C is short for 4Cardiology. 4C is a free email service that gives you a weekly overview of the latest published articles in four leading journals in the field of cardiovascular medicine. European Heart Journal, Circulation, Journal of the American College of Cardiology and Heart. Sign up and stay updated on the latest insights in cardiovascular research.
New to the family: 4Cardiology!
September 03, 2018
Launch of 4ClinicalPharmacology!
Our latest addition to the 4Abstracts family is 4ClinicalPharmacology (4CP)! We will soon start with sending our issues, make sure you are subscribed! 4CP is a free email service that brings you a monthly update of published abstracts of original articles, trials and reviews in 4 prominent journals in clinical pharmacology covering PK/PD including therapeutic drug monitoring, education, drug adherence, novel drugs, drug safety and more.
Launch of 4ClinicalPharmacology!