UMCG research

Great news👍! Judith Rosmalen has received a €1.4 million grant from ZonMw for her research ‘Unravelling post-COVID: variability and biological basis’. The aim of her research is to gain more knowledge and insight into the underlying mechanisms involved in post-COVID. Post-COVID affects 1 in 8 people after SARS-CoV-2 infection, and leads to high personal and societal costs. How post-COVID occurs is unclear🤷♀️. The aim of this study is to unravel post-COVID heterogeneity in the Lifelines_NL cohort, with data and biomaterials collected before, during and after the pandemic. The project will compare participants with post-COVID with those who recovered after COVID-19. To investigate heterogeneity in post-COVID, the dataset will be enriched with immune and metabolic measurements while using two approaches. First, the project will define subtypes of post-COVID based on symptoms. This top-down approach is in line with clinical practice and can help in better diagnosis and treatment. Second, using advanced data analysis, the project will identify subtypes of post-COVID patients based on biomarker profiles. This bottom-up approach increases the understanding of the onset of post-COVID, possibly leading to new treatment options. #postcovid

Happy to share the highlights of an inspiring event at UMCG's PRECISION Research Institute, which focused on collaboration and innovation in Intensive Care research! 🌟   We were honoured to welcome Prof. Manu Shankar-Hari from the University of Edinburgh.The expertise of a precision medicine programme for critically ill patients aligns perfectly with the themes of our research institute. Manu's keynote lecture on ‘Sepsis Temporal Immune States’ provided valuable insights into the evolving immune responses in sepsis. 🦠🧪   Manu also led an exciting master class for early-career researchers, sharing his expertise in intensive care, immunomodulation and clinical trial design. His passion left a lasting impact on all attendees.   Moreover, the PhD student teams that won the 2024 Precision Collaboration Grant received their awards, and we look forward to seeing the results of their collaborations in the near term. Their achievements were celebrated with another round of prize opportunities, this time rewarded for the best pitch. 🏆 A heartfelt thank you to everyone who made this event unforgettable! Let’s continue to innovate and collaborate for better patient outcomes! 💡   #UMCG #UMCGResearch #IntensiveCareVolwassenen #PrecisionInstitute #ResearchInnovation #CriticalCare #SepsisResearch #Immunology #PrecisionMedicine #HealthcareCollaboration

🎉 Exciting news from the exquAIro event! We proudly recognized the recipients of the exquAIro Pilot Grants, celebrating groundbreaking research in healthcare. 🌟   Congratulations to Prof. Dr. Martin de Borst, whose AI-powered blood test aims to transform cardiovascular risk prediction, and Dr. Menno Douwes, focusing on automated imaging for young patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. Their innovative projects embody the spirit of UMCG’s mission to drive AI-driven healthcare advancements.   We are inspired by their commitment to innovation and the potential impact on the future of healthcare! 🚀 #exquAIro #HealthcareInnovation #ArtificialIntelligence #ResearchExcellence #MedicalImaging #CardiovascularHealth #Nephrology #DASH Gerard Koppelman

There is hope for patients with chronic kidney damage. It turns out that the well-known diabetes drug Ozempic also works very well for patients with chronic kidney damage and obesity. Clinical pharmacologist hiddo lambers heerspink led an international study into the effect of this drug in this group of patients. It turns out that the drug has both direct and indirect positive effects on the kidneys. The amount of protein in the urine indicates how much kidney damage a patient has; in the participants, this amount halved. The severity of their kidney inflammation also decreased, as did their blood pressure. The participants lost about 10% of their weight due to the drug, which also has a positive effect on their kidneys. Lambers Heerspink is very enthusiastic about the results of his study. He is therefore keen to conduct more studies with the drug, for example to see if it can also lead to fewer kidney dialysis and transplants. 👍👍 Curious to read more about this research?  👉  https://lnkd.in/eXijqeRv #diabetes #ozempic #kidneydisease #kidneydamage

Vidi news! Congratulations to our researchers Cyril Moers, Ranko Gacesa, and Marc Jan Bonder, who have been awarded Vidi grants from the Dutch Research Council (NWO)! 🎉 🔬 Cyril Moers is developing a breakthrough method to store donor kidneys for much longer periods, allowing for better transplant planning and reducing complications for patients. 🦠 Ranko Gacesa is exploring how gut microbes evolve over time and what that means for our health. His research could pave the way for new probiotics to help people with chronic gastrointestinal diseases. 🧬 Marc Jan Bonder is diving deep into rare genetic diseases, aiming to decode how subtle DNA variations contribute to these conditions, potentially improving diagnoses for many patients. Read more about their research on our website: https://lnkd.in/e6VfUKCB #UMCG #ScienceForHealth #VidiGrant #MedicalResearch #HealthcareInnovation

Looking for new organ perfusionists! 👩⚕️👨⚕️ Organ perfusion is vital in the transplantation process, allowing us to preserve, test, and even improve donor organs. This advancement enables more organs to be successfully transplanted and reduces the risk of complications post-transplant. 🔬Innovations like normothermic regional perfusion further enhance the chances of successful transplants.   To meet the growing need for expertise in this area, we offer a unique 10-month international educational program on heart, lung, liver, and kidney perfusion, starting in February. The course combines theoretical knowledge with hands-on training from leading experts. 🏥 It consists of 11 interactive online sessions and 2 intensive skills weeks at the Simulation Center UMCG.   Are you ready to make a difference in the future of organ transplantation? Explore the program and register now to become an organ perfusionist: https://lnkd.in/dG5B6VNh #OrganPerfusion #MedicalTraining #Transplantation #Healthcare #UMCG

Huh, that’s odd,’ was the thought of cellbiologist Anton Steen on a Saturday morning in the lab during the pandemic. He was performing a control experiment and what he saw was exactly the opposite of what he had expected. ‘I must have done something wrong.’ After repeating the experiment, he came to the same surprising conclusion. Then he realised: this could be important... 💡 As it turned out, he had unintentionally discovered a new function of a protein he was studying: it reduces protein clumping. This may play a crucial role in ageing and diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. It all started with a simple experiment in the lab, without the expectation of a big breakthrough. ‘Sometimes it’s about recognising when an unexpected result could mean something important,’ Anton Steen says. After this moment in 2020, PhD-student Tegan Otto has continued this research which has recently led to a publication in Cell Reports by Cell Press: https://lnkd.in/eRkz-9PF Curious to know the whole story? Read how Anton’s curiosity led to this discovery on our website (Dutch article): https://lnkd.in/eierQHra

🧠 Due to unavoidable irradiation of healthy brain tissue, radiotherapy treatment of brain tumours can affect how the brain functions. This can cause several impactful problems, such as memory loss and inability to process new information. For her PhD research, Daniëlle Voshart aimed to understand the mechanisms behind this brain decline. She focused on the brain regions most affected by radiotherapy and microglia, the main immune cells of the brain.   Voshart also aimed to elucidate the role of advanced radiotherapy technologies, such as proton therapy. To study the effect of radiotherapy and proton therapy on the normal brain, we used rodent models and human post-mortem brain tissues.   To fully benefit from the advantages of proton therapy, it is important to know how different brain regions respond to radiation. Therefore, Voshart reviewed this regional variation in a literature study for several organs. She also further studied this response in rodents that received radiation in specific parts of the brains and measured brain function using behavioural tests. Lastly, to better understand the effects of radiotherapy on the human brain, she analysed the post-mortem brain tissue of glioblastoma patients.   Curious about the results? ➡ https://lnkd.in/eq_qbxpV   Supervisors: Rob Coppes, Lara Barazzuol   #phd #radiotherapy #brain #function #decline

Congratulations to Marina De Koning-Tijssen of our Neurology-department! She has received the Stanley Fahn Lecture Award. She was presented with this Award during the congress of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society. It is a lifetime achievement award and she is the first Dutch person to receive this award. Marina de Koning- Tijssen has worked at the UMCG since 2012. She is initiator and head of the UMCG Expertise Centre Movement Disorders Groningen, an official centre of expertise for rare movement disorders. Under her supervision, the UMCG is the official training centre of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society. Her research line ‘Hyperkinetic movement disorders’ moves from basic research to patient care. The Stanley Fahn Lecture Award is presented to outstanding researchers and clinicians. He or she must have made exceptional contributions to a better understanding of the cause, diagnosis or treatment of movement disorders. 

How can you ensure that patients keep moving as much as possible, even when they are back home? 🤷♀️ There are a huge number of initiatives and clubs. But it is difficult for patients to keep moving when they are back home and no longer accompanied. They often do not know what suits them well or what is nearby. Sports and exercise physician Hans Zwerver and movement scientist Inge van den Akker-Scheek will work together with (former) patients to find the best ways to connect all the initiatives that already exist. Their goal is to thereby enable as many people as possible to benefit from the positive effects of exercise. 🚶♂️ 🏃♀️ 🕺 In four regions, they will therefore make an inventory of all existing initiatives in the field of exercise. They look at how these are organised and what works well and what does not. This allows the regions to learn from each other. Inge van de Akker: ‘We want to develop a good ongoing “movement journey” for (former) patients.’ Zwerver also wants to raise awareness among sports and healthcare professionals about the importance of (former) patients keeping moving. 'And it is also very important that this becomes more prominent in education. Exercise must become part of the therapeutic arsenal. I want the importance to permeate the capillaries of both healthcare and sport and exercise.' 👍 Curious to know more about their research?  👉 https://lnkd.in/erfJY5av