School for Cardiovascular Diseases

CARIM is one of the top institutes for translational cardiovascular research in Europe. It is among the world leaders in the fields of research into vascular and thrombotic disorders and atrial fibrillation, as well as translational heart failure research. It has also made important international contributions to molecular imaging in the cardiovascular field.

Cardiovascular scientists from around the world have joined CARIM because it values open communication, close cooperation, high ambitions, excellent facilities, and a critical learning environment.

Fast facts

three research themes, with 21 programmes and Principal Investigators
top institute for translational cardiovascular research in Europe
flexible, integraded PhD programme
unique core facilities
led by Prof. Tilman Hackeng

CARIM website

Research

The research within CARIM is divided into three lines. Each line consists of more interdisciplinary research programmes, each led by a Principal Investigator (PI). The PIs are responsible for the scientific progress of the programme, the mentoring of PhD students and post-docs, and the financials of the programme.

Education

CARIM combines high-level scientific research with high-level education of young researchers, and is therefore qualified as a research school by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and recognised as an international training site for Early Stage Researchers by the European Union.

CARIM offers a flexible and integrated education and training programme that suits individual ambitions of our students. The education programme consists of a specialization within the FHML master's programmes in Biomedical Sciences and Physician-Clinical Investigator (MSc/MD) and a contiguous PhD (doctoral) training programme.

Research lines

The three main research lines (comprising 21 basic and clinical programmes) within CARIM are:

Thrombosis & Haemostasis
Cardiac Function & Failure
Vascular Biology

CARIM

Coen Stehouwer

“The Maastricht Study, an observational epidemiological study with 10,000 participants, uses deep phenotyping to provide unprecedented insights into the causes and consequences of chronic diseases, with a special emphasis on diabetes and cardiovascular disease.”

Uli Schotten

“The main challenge of cardiovascular research is to bridge the gap between the molecular mechanisms driving a disease and the patient’s clinical signs and symptoms.”

Joost Lumens

“The level of the scientific debate here is very high. People are not easily satisfied, which means our research produces enduring results; we always try to identify the underlying mechanism. It’s all about getting every detail right; that’s the CARIM culture.”

Marjo Donners

“The more complex, the more I like it. It’s when the results of an experiment turn out to be the opposite of what you expected them to be that it becomes interesting.”

Leon de Windt

“If you know that a growing heart muscle is the earliest manifestation of heart failure, I find it counterintuitive that you don’t want to understand how this works so there can then be a medicine developed for it.”

More on Leon de Windt

The hybrid researcher
Thursday, February 15, 2018

Research that transcends individual disciplines is highly regarded in academia, yet known to be incredibly challenging. Matthijs Cluitmans demonstrates that it is not only possible, but also of great added value. He obtained a joint PhD in 2016 from the Department of Data Science and Knowledge Engineering (DKE) and the School for Cardiovascular Diseases (CARIM). Before that, he studied both disciplines in Maastricht, and he now works for both institutes as well as at Philips Research.

Read more
‘Often too little evidence for general claims about a healthy lifestyle’
Friday, March 24, 2017

Valedictory lecture Prof Thomas Unger, CARIM (MUMC + news).

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CARIM works in close cooperation with the Maastricht University Medical Center+ (MUMC+). MUMC+ is known both nationally and internationally for its focus on prevention and taking an integrated approach to health care: from prevention, promotion of good health, and basic care, to top-level clinical diagnostics and treatment. Patient safety is our top priority in all of our endeavours. MUMC+ is part of The Netherlands Federation of University Medical Centres.