Prof. Ron Heeren
At the forefront of molecular imaging
Ron Heeren, Distinguished Professor and Limburg co-chair of the Maastricht Multimodal Molecular Imaging Institute, has devoted his career to innovations in mass spectrometry and their applications to other disciplines.
About his current research direction, he says:
"A comprehensive understanding of molecular patterns of health and disease is needed to pave the way for personalised medicine and tissue regeneration. New physical technology developments in mass spectrometry based chemical microscopes have now firmly established themselves in translational research. They target biomedical tissue analysis in various diseases as well as other chemically complex surfaces. In concert they elucidate the way in which local environments can influence molecular signalling pathways on various scales, from molecule to man.

Publications
Prof. Heeren is the elected treasurer and executive board member of the international mass spectrometry foundation and serves on various editorial boards of peer-reviewed journals. His publication record encompasses an excess of 300 peer-reviewed publications and his H-index is 57 (Google scholar, August 2020).

Awards
Awards include
- the 2020 Hans Fisher fellowship Technical University of Munich,
- the 2020 Thomson medal of the IMSF for distinguished contribution to international MS,
- and the 2019 NWO-Physics Valorisation prize.

Work for third parties
This includes science policy, science community-building and editorial activities
News
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Caroline Bouvier wanted to be an illustrator, but ended up in chemistry. She managed to combine both of her passions in her research - creating molecular fingerprints of some of the world’s most valued paintings, including old master art from 15th to 17th centuries. As of October, Caroline is one of...
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What happens if a SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus enters your lung? This molecular animation visualises how the virus particle can take over the host cell and turns it into a virus factory. Eventually, the host cell produces so many viral particles that it dies and releases numerous new virus particles.
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Prof. dr. Ron Heeren received the prestigious Thomson Medal for his work in the field of mass spectrometry.
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DThe multimillion-euro investment in the LINK programme by the Province of Limburg, Maastricht University (UM) and Maastricht UMC+ (MUMC+) has achieved its targets. And the LINK programme is to have a sequel: UM and MUMC+ will be investing eight million euros in MERLN and M4i in the coming years to...
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This biennial conference focuses on the breadth of mass spectrometry.
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Auto-aggressive CXCR6+ CD8 T cells cause liver immune pathology in NASH.
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ITN grant for M4i FoodTraNet project: Advanced Research and Training Network in food quality, safety and security.
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Developing new mass spectrometry (imaging) and SPR based solutions.
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The project builds on several technical developments made at M4I in the fields of mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) and lipid analysis.
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M4i’s PhD candidate Darya Hadavi has won the best poster prize at the International Society for Ion Mobility Spectrometry (ISIMS) Poster Symposium 2020.
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The ICARUS project will be carried out in close collaboration with the IMS CORE lab at the M4I division of Imaging Mass Spectrometry, where CriPec® nanoparticle microlocalisation and drug release in tumours will be evaluated.
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Interview with prof. Peter Peters on the Science article he co-worked on intensively.
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Researchers from the Hubrecht Institute in Utrecht, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, and Maastricht University in the Netherlands have found that the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, can infect cells of the intestine and multiply there.
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Interview with Cyrille Depondt, director of Dutch Screening Group (DSG), a spin-off company that originated from Ron Heeren's research.
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Interview with Hans Brouwer, CEO of Amsterdam Scientific Instruments, a spin-off company that originated from professor Ron Heeren's knowledge development.
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This year, the prize for the best knowledge utilisation in physics goes to Ron Heeren (M4I). He works on improving clinical diagnostics by means of mass spectrometry imaging.
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Interview with prof. Ron Heeren because of his winning the NWO Physics Valorisation Prize.
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UM professor of Molecular Imaging Ron Heeren has been named to The Analytical Scientist's 2019 Power List.
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Frank Nijpels is working on the Vitrojet, a new device that prepares samples for a form of electron microscopy that received the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
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It’s a major step forward on the road to sustainable agriculture and healthy food.
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Researchers from the Maastricht M4I institute, led by Prof. Ron Heeren, are key partners in an international consortium that will validate the iKnife.
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Thanks to cryo-electron microscopy, scientists can see inside cells, all the way down to the molecular level. This revolution makes it possible to analyze the precise composition of the many thousands of proteins. It might also reveal the mysteries of how diseases such as Alzheimer’s or tuberculosis...
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Researchers at Maastricht University (UM) and Avans University of Applied Sciences are developing a method that enables person profiling on the basis of hair.
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Scientists from Maastricht University (UM) and researchers from Denmark and Germany have developed a new technique to accurately determine both the location and identity of lipids in bodily tissues in a single workflow. Lipids are essential molecules in every cell of our body and intimately involved...
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The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) is allocating more than 17 million euros in subsidies for the further development of a Dutch network for electron microscopy (NEMI). Almost 5 million of this will go to UM. From Maastricht, the M4I institute of university professors Ron...
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Dankzij de Maastrichtse cryo-elektronenmicroscoop konden onderzoekers de moleculaire structuur in kaart brengen van het Beta-amyloïde eiwit, dat een rol speelt in de Ziekte van Alzheimer.
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Martijn Arts, PhD candidate at the department of General Surgery and the M4I division of Imaging Mass Spectrometry, was awarded the second prize for his talk at the 13th International Medical Postgraduate Conference - IMPC 2016 - .
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On 8, 9 and 10 September the LINK Institutes MERLN and M4I held their official openings in the AINSI in Maastricht.
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Martha Ingola, who is in her final year of her Bachelor biology and medical laboratory research and an intern at the M4I division of Imaging Mass Spectrometry, was awarded a poster prize.
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On November 28, 2015 Ron Heeren presented glimpses of the ‘operating room of the future’ during a lunch lecture in Amsterdam.
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The 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was recently awarded to (among others) the discoverer and developer of the STED microscope, Stefan Hell from Heidelberg. And Maastricht University has one of the two modern STED microscopes in the Netherlands.
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MRI-platform Brains Unlimited from Maastricht University wins the ICT Impact Award. Brains Unlimited was nominated because of the great impact the scanner platform has on society and as part of the digital economy.
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The transfer of Prof. Ron M.A. Heeren (1965) from Amsterdam to Maastricht on 1 September 2014 signals the start of the creation of a new European institute for molecular imaging: M4I, or the Maastricht Multimodal Molecular Imaging institute.
In the press
More
- Eindhovens Dagblad, Prijs voor fysicus in Veldhoven: diagnose tijdens operatie dankzij moleculenmeter, 21 January 2020
- WijLimburg, Brightlands Convention Award voor Ron Heeren, 24 March 2019
- The Translational Scientist, The Inside Story, 6 December 2018
- KT Seminars, Translational imaging mass spectrometry: From CERN to the surgeon, 29 May 2018
- C2W, Maastricht: broedplaats voor interdisciplinair onderzoek, 11 May 2018
- The Analytical Scientist, The Inside Story, May 2018 issue
- WijLimburg TV 1op1, Ron Heeren (Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus), 9 April 2018
- WijLimburg TV 1op1, Hoogleraar Ron Heeren en Meisje met de parel te gast in 1op1 – WijLimburg TV, 22 March 2018
- VSNU Ezine, De digitale operatiekamer van de toekomst, 2017
- The Analytical Scientist, Power List 2017
- RTL Nieuws, Ron Heeren over de 'massamicroscoop', 23 December 2016
- The Scientists' Channel,
Ron M.A. Heeren on the Use of Advanced Molecular Imaging Technologies for Translational Research, 1 August 2016 - Business Wire, MultiModal Molecular Imaging Institute at Maastricht University Joins Waters Centers of Innovation Program, 22 June 2016
- ZuidLimburg.nl, Meet bright people: Ron Heeren, 16 November 2015
- Brightlands Campussen, Meet Bright People: Ron Heeren, 12 November 2015
- The Analytical Scientist,
MultiModal Molecular Imaging, 26 February 2015 - Bits & Chips, Maastrichtse universiteit kaapt onderzoeksgroep weg bij Fom2, July 2014