Margo Trappenburg studied political science at the Leiden University. She defended her thesis, about debates on ethical issues in the Netherlands, in 1993. Since 2000 Trappenburg is associate professor at the Utrecht University School of Governance. From 2004-2008 she held a special professorship at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, on the role of patients in health care politics. From 2008 - 2013 she held a special professorship at the University of Amsterdam, where she studied recent developments in the welfare state. Her research interests include: patient organizations, patient empowerment, euthanasia, the development of (medical) professional ethics, welfare state policy and contemporary political philosophy.