Research at FHML

Movement disorders neurologist Mayke Oosterloo guides and treats patients (and their loved ones) with Huntington's disease. "They know a terrible fate awaits them, but they often bear this with such dignity. I have a lot of respect for that.”

According to pediatric intensivist Piet Leroy, comfort and trust are just as important as the medical treatment itself. Therefore, he is researching how healthcare providers can offer trauma-free care and how they can learn to apply comfort care.

Neuroscientist Dennis Hernaus (MHeNS)  investigates the reward system in our brain. How does this ‘brain network’ ensure that we become motivated?

To ensure patient safety, it is important that all care providers collaborate well, but this is easier said than done. Collaborating in healthcare is something you need to learn!

Dr Zlatan Mujagic, gastroenterologist at Maastricht UMC+ and NUTRIM researcher. In 2023, he received the prestigious Clinical Fellowship research grant from ZonMw, which is a huge boost for his research on IBD. 

Berta Cillero Pastor is an Associate Professor and group leader at the MERLN Institute for Technology-Inspired Regenerative Medicine. Her research is centred around mass spectrometry (imaging) to gain insights into molecules in cells and tissues for biomedical research.

On February 8, 2024, Ziemons received her PhD from Maastricht University for the dissertation “The role of the gut microbiota in human cancer, the power of an equilibrium". 

Rory's research can be best described as the quest to understand the role of inflammatory processes in the development of thrombosis.

Pieter Jelle Visser was appointed professor at Maastricht University in 2022. He is engaged in research on Alzheimer's disease: the underlying causes and the possibilities for therapy. 

When someone experiences cardiac arrest, the heart temporarily stops pumping, leading to a lack of oxygen in the brain. Pauline van Gils explains how she is researching what happens to the brain when something goes wrong with the heart.

At the CAPHRI research institute in Maastricht, a 5-member team led by Professor Hans Bosma is working on a large-scale study on socioeconomic inequality and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM).

Prof. Marjolein Smidt holds a chair at Maastricht University in oncological surgery, with a focus on mammary surgery (breast surgery). The title of her oration is “Just as good with less”.

Were you absolutely cruising through your exams? Were you well prepared with plenty time to spare? Then Anique de Bruin’s work won’t change your life. But for everyone else, the Professor of Self-regulation in Higher Education has useful insights and tools. 

With the Maastricht CardioMyoPathy Register, researchers are exploring new possibilities for the detection and treatment of heart diseases. Using an innovative database, they ensure the safety of participants' data.

Vascular biologist Judith Sluimer was appointed professor of cardiovascular pathophysiology in October 2020. In her inaugural lecture, she alluded both to the importance of oxygen in the functioning of the heart and blood vessels as well as to the ‘fresh air’ she believes academia is always in need of.

The white heterosexual middle-aged man is implicitly the norm in medical education materials. But not for much longer, if Albertine Zanting has her way

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People who have been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for a while lose a significant amount of muscle mass and, consequently, muscle strength. Julia Bels studies how nutrition can help ICU patients in preserving and strengthening their muscles.

At the CARIM research institute (school for cardiovascular diseases) in Maastricht, a group of researchers – led by Joost Lumens - is working with ‘het digitale tweelinghart’ (the digital twin heart): a computer model that simulates the human heart.

Metastatic cancer is difficult to treat, but research using mini-tumors brings personalized treatment closer. Prof.Dr. Peter Peters explains how to create mini-tumors and what you can do with them.

To accurately describe the experienced quality of care in nursing homes from the perspective of the resident, the Academic Workplace for Elderly Care (AWO-L) developed Connecting Conversations (Ruimte voor Zorg).

Green care are farms offer a completely different environment than a traditional nursing home. Hilde Verbeek's team is investigating the positive elements of green care farms and how these can be translated into other forms of nursing home care.

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In oncology, treatments are more often added than reduced. In her research, Prof. Dr. Marjolein Smidt wants to make a distinction within such a package deal between the gains in survival and quality of life of the different components.

Researchers have succeeded in measuring activity in surgically removed brain tissue for six days. This opens up possibilities for scientific research on brain biopsies on a chip, which could reduce the use of laboratory animals.

Prof. Dr. Joost Lumens uses a virtual computer model to replicate the complex dynamics of the heart in real-time. With such simulations, he aims to gain a better understanding of the functioning and diseases of the heart.

Claudia del Toro Runzer studies ways to restore the self-healing ability of bones that no longer heal themselves after a fracture. In this video, she explains how she uses the body's own mailcarrier to give bone its self-healing capacity back.

Performing cataract surgery in both eyes on the same day instead of with a two-week interval is equally safe but more cost-effective and patient-friendly. At a national level, annual cost savings of up to €27 million can be achieved.

Roger Rennenberg doesn't go for spectacular new treatments that make headlines. However, ambition is not lacking because by focusing on improving the quality and safety of healthcare, he wants to save more lives with less money. 

Without healthy blood vessels, our body is unable to supply oxygen to all parts of the body. Therefore, Prof. Dr. Judith Sluimer investigates the development of atherosclerosis down to the level of individual cells to develop better treatments.

Young parents were long advised to exclusively breastfeed their baby for the first six months to reduce the risk of food allergies and eczema. However, the KOALA study shows that the reality is somewhat more nuanced than that.

Hydrogels are a special kind of material naturally present in the human body, which facilitate cell growth into tissues. Researchers at Maastricht University are able to replicate hydrogels and use them to accurately mimic human tissue.

Prof. Dr. Anita Vreugdenhil wants to improve health care for children with obesity. She studies whether children with severe obesity, for whom lifestyle interventions do not work, can be helped with a gastric reduction surgery.

Bones do not always heal themselves after a large fracture. Prof. dr. Martijn van Griensven studies bone regeneration. He uses scaffolds and stem cells to let bone tissue grow and investigates how to stimulate bone growth. 

Dr. Sabine van Rijt is developing a new type of biomaterial for patients with bone cancer. The composite material, based on nanoparticles and polymers, kills cancer cells and instructs the body to regrow surgically removed bone.

Making an impact in people's lives and on society as a whole is what Prof. Dr. Klara Mosterd aims to achieve with her research on skin cancer and the clinical treatment of patients. And that can also be done without surgery.

The population is rapidly aging, there is a shortage of healthcare workers, and the workload of general practitioners continues to increase. Rowan Smeets investigated three ways to improve the situation in general practices.

Many people with a chronic inflammatory bowel disease suffer from persistent abdominal pain. Due to limited knowledge about this form of chronic pain, gastroenterologist Dr. Zlatan Mujagic is trying to better understand it.

When doctors and patients make treatment decisions together, it is beneficial for patients and the healthcare system as a whole. Researchers are investigating how to improve the process of shared decision-making for low-literacy patients.

The treatment called 'hybrid ablation' leads to better results in persistent atrial fibrillation compared to the standard treatment, catheter ablation. Approximately twice as many patients are symptom-free after one year.

To help people in having healthy children, Dr. Masoud Zamani Esteki is studying the genetic development of embryos. In this video, he explains how he investigates embryonic development before and during pregnancy.

Public health leaders have been divorced from science. Prof. Dr. Katazyna Czabanowska focuses on developing public health leaders driven by values of social justice, inclusion and equity address the challenges affecting health and well-being.

Lorenzo Moroni is developing technology to create biological substitutes for heart chambers in space using magnetic and acoustic levitation. This research on 3D tissue will be conducted in space, at the International Space Station (ISS).

The impact of chronic pain is somewhat overlooked. Pain is often seen as a symptom rather than a disease. Researchers and healthcare professionals are collaborating in the Pain Rehabilitation Limburg network to help people in this regard.