We develop patient-derived cell models to understand the molecular mechanisms of disease, to identify and validate targets for treatment, and to develop drugs and precision medicine applications.
We develop in vitro living cell technologies based on patient-derived adult stem cells to study human diseases with high unmet clinical needs. We focus on adult stem cell based organotypic cultures, how such cells can be used to grow cellular communities in vitro that mimic the in vivo conditions, and how genetic or pharmacological interventions in such in vitro models can induce or treat disease characteristics. In addition, we explore and develop how patient-specific adult stem cell-based technologies and biobanks thereof can be used for precision medicine applications by validating their ability to associate with and predict individual clinical phenotypes and therapeutic benefit, mostly in the context of airway diseases.
The research group has multiple subdomains where we focus on various topics including Cystic Fibrosis and Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia disease models, AI and Automation for cellular disease models, Airway biology and defense mechanisms, Gene Therapy, and stem cell research. This multidisciplinary team works closely together with clinician-scientists to implement new innovations in clinical research and healthcare. Public-private partnerships with patient foundations and pharma companies are an integral part of our research activities. The lab is part of the Regenerative Medicine Center in Utrecht and the EWUU alliance Centre for Living Technologies.
The department is headed by Prof. Dr. Jeffrey Beekman, and consist of a multidisciplanry team with lab specialists, biologists, lab automation experts, data scientists, and project management. Bachelor and Master students, PhD students, Postdocs, senior researchers, and PIs work closely together on a day to basis to bring advanced cellular disease models to both preclinical and clinical applications.
