Molecular and Cellular Technologies

Our focus is on making gene therapies more efficient, specific and safe.

About

Our aim is to accelerate the development of novel therapies in Regenerative Medicine. To achieve this, we employ state-of-the-art patient-derived human cellular disease models such as induced pluripotent stem cells and mini-organs (a.k.a organoids). In addition, we develop and apply single molecule, single cell, and single organoid-based technologies and AI-based image analysis to obtain single cell-resolution of genotypes and phenotypes. This approach allows us to:

  • Address key questions in gene and cell therapies
  • Dissect the molecular mechanisms underlying genetic diseases (congenital and cancer)
  • Enable high-throughput screens to repurpose drugs, identify novel compounds, and identify genetic modifiers

Altogether, these activities in translational medicine improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of disease and help to make advanced therapeutic medicinal products more efficient and safe.

Gene Therapy

Organoids as a key tool for developing next-generation therapies

Organoids are extremely useful to address these questions, for several reasons:

  1. for all of the organs affected by CF, human organoid models have been developed,
  2. organoids contain disease relevant cell types and recapitulate important aspects of the CF phenotype,
  3. the forskolin-induced-swelling-assay, which was developed at our institute by professor Jeffrey Beekman, enables the rapid assessment of CFTR function and determine patient-specific responsiveness towards therapies.

With my research I contribute to the development of the next generation of gene therapies, so that people suffering from Cystic Fibrosis and other genetic diseases can lead long and fulfilling lives.

Collaborations

We are open to help academic and biotech researchers in their questions and need for advanced methods and technologies. Feel free to contact us.

Publications Molecular and Cellular Technologies

Human colon stem cells are the predominant epithelial responders to bacterial antigens. de Vries, M. et al. (2025). Front. Immunol. Volume 16 - 2025
TTC7A missense variants in intestinal disease can be classified by molecular and cellular phenotypes Shojaei Jeshvaghani, Z. et al. (2025). HMG 34, 313–326.
The genome-wide mutational consequences of DNA hypomethylation. Besselink, N. et al.(2023). Sci Rep 13, 6874.
Common anti-cancer therapies induce somatic mutations in stem cells of healthy tissue. Kuijk, E. et al. (2022). Nat Commun 13, 5915.
The mutational impact of culturing human pluripotent and adult stem cells. Kuijk, E. et al. (2020). Nat Commun 11, 2493.
Early divergence of mutational processes in human fetal tissues Kuijk, E. et al. (2019). Sci. Adv. 5, eaaw1271.
The roles of FGF and MAP kinase signaling in the segregation of the epiblast and hypoblast cell lineages in bovine and human embryos. Kuijk, E.W. et al. (2012). Development 139, 871–882.

Our experts

Ewart Kuijk portret
Dr. Ewart Kuijk

Assistant professor

Research profile
Jari Bulkens portrait
Jari Bulkens

PhD Student

Research profile