Pieter Vader

Associate Professor

Strategic program(s):

Biography

Pieter Vader graduated in Chemistry (B.Sc., 2005) and Drug Innovation (M.Sc., 2007) from the University of Utrecht. He earned his PhD degree in 2012 from the University of Utrecht on the subject of targeted delivery of siRNA to inhibit tumor angiogenesis.

From 2012 to 2014, Pieter was employed as a (senior) postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oxford, UK, in the lab of Prof. Matthew Wood, supported by a NWO Rubicon fellowship. The research topic was development of small RNA-loaded extracellular vesicles for targeted delivery.

In 2014 he moved back to The Netherlands to continue his work at the University Medical Center Utrecht. Currently, he is Associate Professor at CDL Research and at the Department of Experimental Cardiology. His main research interests are in the field of therapeutic applications of extracellular vesicles, including unraveling the mechanisms underlying extracellular vesicle-mediated cargo transfer. His research has been supported by a NWO Veni Grant (2014), ERC Starting Grant (2019), Dutch Heart Foundation Dekker Senior Scientist Grant (2019), NWO Vidi Grant (2020) and ERC Consolidator Grant (2023). In 2021, Pieter was awarded the Prix Galien Research Award for his work on drug delivery.

Strategic program(s):

Contact

pvader2@umcutrecht.nl

Pure profile

Research groups

Nanomedicine lab

Research aim

We develop synthetic and biological nanomedicine for targeted drug delivery

Go to group

Recent publications

All publications

Harnessing extracellular vesicles for endochondral bone regeneration Flurina Staubli, Yinghong Zhou, Pieter Vader, Sandra Hofmann, Jan Eelco Bergsma, Debby Gawlitta, Kenny Man
Acta Biomaterialia, 2026, vol. 212, p.168-186

Enhancing cardiomyocyte reprogramming efficiency by targeting cellular senescence is mediated via Rb1 gene Juntao Fang, Qiangbing Yang, Renée G.C. Maas, Pieter Vader, Michal Mokry, Noortje A.M. van den Dungen, Li Qian, Junjie Xiao, Raymond Schiffelers, Zhiyong Lei, Joost P.G. Sluijter
Stem Cell Research and Therapy, 2025, vol. 16

A modular strategy for extracellular vesicle-mediated CRISPR-Cas9 delivery through aptamer-based loading and UV-activated cargo release Omnia M Elsharkasy, Charlotte V Hegeman, Tom A P Driedonks, Xiuming Liang, Ivana Lansweers, Olaf L Cotugno, Ingmar Y de Groot, Zoë E M N J de Wit, Antonio Garcia-Guerra, Niels J A Moorman, Sjoerd H Boonstra, Esmeralda D C Bosman, Juliet W Lefferts, Willemijn S de Voogt, Jerney J François, Annet C W van Wesel, Samir El Andaloussi, Raymond M Schiffelers, Sander A A Kooijmans, Enrico Mastrobattista, Pieter Vader, Olivier G de Jong
Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16

Pre-formation loading of extracellular vesicles with exogenous molecules using photoporation Jana Ramon, Cláudio Pinheiro, Charysse Vandendriessche, Estefanía Lozano-Andrés, Herlinde De Keersmaecker, Deep Punj, Juan C Fraire, Edward Geeurickx, Marca H M Wauben, Pieter Vader, Roosmarijn E Vandenbroucke, An Hendrix, Stephan Stremersch, Stefaan C De Smedt, Koen Raemdonck, Kevin Braeckmans
Journal of Nanobiotechnology, 2025, vol. 23

Effective communication with JCR editors in the peer review process Honggang Cui, Ana Beloqui, Davide Brambilla, Paolo Caliceti, Yunching (Becky) Chen, Laura M. Ensign, Jong Oh Kim, Twan Lammers, Kanjiro Miyata, Yu Kyoung Oh, Dan Peer, Amirali Popat, Raymond Schiffelers, Yang Shi, Xun Sun, Pieter Vader, Yoon Yeo, Lichen Yin, Yu Seok Youn, Zhiyuan Zhong, Stefaan C. De Smedt
Journal of Controlled Release, 2025, vol. 385

Nanobody-Decorated Lipid Nanoparticles for Enhanced mRNA Delivery to Tumors In Vivo Pol Escudé Martinez de Castilla, Vincenzo Verdi, Willemijn de Voogt, Mariona Estapé Sentí, Arnold C Koekman, Julian Rietveld, Sven van Kempen, Qiangbing Yang, Juliette van Merris, Guido Jenster, Martin E van Royen, Marcel H Fens, Sander A A Kooijmans, Wytske M van Weerden, Guillaume van Niel, Pieter Vader, Raymond M Schiffelers
Advanced Healthcare Materials, 2025, vol. 14

Fellowships & Awards

2023 ERC Consolidator Grant for the project: "Unravelling extracellular vesicle heterogeneity to inspire improved therapeutic RNA delivery systems"
2020 NWO Vidi grant for the project: "Molecular drivers of extracellular vesicle targeting and RNA transfer – towards improved delivery"
2019 ERC Starting grant for the project: "Overcoming cellular barriers to therapeutic RNA delivery using extracellular vesicles"
2019 Dutch Heart Foundation Dekker Senior Scientist grant for the project: "Therapeutic mRNA delivery to the myocardium for cardiac regeneration"
2014 NWO Veni grant for the project: “Inspired by nature: Extracellular vesicles as potent RNA delivery platforms”
2011 NWO Rubicon grant for the project: "Cell-derived microvesicles for delivery of small RNAs to tumours"

External positions

Associate Editor - Editoriale werkzaamheden - Elsevier BV