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CARIM Newsletter February 2015
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This newsletter contains information on the following subjects:
  • CVON Uli Schotten
  • Dr. Dekker Blanche Schroen
  • UM award Roel Spätjens
  • Book 'Inflammation in Heart Failure'
  • Upcoming CGRM lectures
  • Symposia & other lectures
  • Academic events
  • Grant deadlines

CARIM newsletter

Dear all, 
We hereby present to you the revived CARIM newsletter. With this newsletter we aim to reduce the number of recurrent CARIM e-mails (meeting invitations, announcements, etc.) that you receive from the CARIM office. As of now, all this information will be clustered in our newsletter and sent to you on a monthly basis, i.e. every first Monday of the month. Contributions for the newsletter (e.g. news of events and grants, important publications, societial impact related topics and research results related to CARIM's research) can be sent to carim-office@maastrichtuniversity.nl. Please submit the text in English and include a short title. The text should be max. 200 words. If applicable, include high resolution pictures and other documents.

CVON Uli Schotten

The Dutch Heart Foundation invests €5 million (CVON grant) in a research project on atrial fibrillation supervised by “Reappraisal of Atrial Fibrillation: Interaction between hypercoagulability, Electrical Remodeling, and Vascular Destabilisation in the Progression of AF (RACE V)”. The research project is supervised by Prof. Uli Schotten (CARIM, Dept. of Physiology) en Prof. Isabelle van Gelder (UMC Groningen, Dept. of Cardiology). A group of people from Leiden University is also involved. In Maastricht, the following people are engaged in the project: Prof. Harry Crijns (Dept. of Cardiology), Prof. Hugo ten Cate and Dr Henri Spronk (Dept. of Biochemistry), Prof. Martin Prins (Dept. of Epidemiology) and Prof. Monika Stoll (Cardiovascular Systems Medicine).

 

Dr. Dekker Senior Postdoc Blanche Schroen

In the framework of the Dr. E. Dekker program of the Dutch Heart Foundation, Dr Blanche Schroen (Department of Cardiology) received a Senior Postdoc grant for her project  "MenRNA is a noval structural DNA molecule involved in the development of heart failure". Long non- coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have recently started to attract attention for their involvement in development and disease. Though their conservation is poor, their diverse roles in regulating gene expression and other molecular biological functions are becoming clear. The goal of this NHS Dekker Senior Postdoc grant is to investigate the molecular involvement of lncRNAs in heart failure, and to assess their potential as clinical biomarkers.

UM Employee Award for Roel Spätjens

At the New Year’s reception of Maastricht University on January 5, Roel Spätjens (Department of Cardiology) received a UM award of special merit for his work at the University. The UM award is given to employees in recognition of their distinctive performance in administrative or academic services, in the provision of services, or for commendable social work based at Maastricht University. Roel was praised for his professionalism and loyalty. "You never come up empty handed when you ask him for something" was one of the comments made by his colleagues.


Foto: Joey Roberts

Inflammation in Heart Failure


Inflammation is currently recognized as one of the main pathological mechanisms in many chronic diseases, including hypertension, atherosclerosis and heart failure. However, inflammation is a very complex process involving multiple mediators and cell types and with both beneficial and detrimental aspects. The inflammatory response can vary widely between patients, which helps to explain the lack of success of interventions with anti-inflammatory agents in random cohorts of heart failure patients. However, the diversity of the inflammatory response may be useful for molecular phenotyping of these patients, which can serve as a first step towards individualized therapy.

In the book entitled Inflammation in heart failure, edited by Raffaele Altara and Matthijs Blankesteijn, experts on different aspects of inflammation in cardiovascular diseases provide comprehensive and timely overviews of their research areas. The book is structured into three sections: pathophysiology of the inflammatory response in heart failure, inflammatory biomarkers and Targeting of the inflammatory response.
 
W. Matthijs Blankesteijn and Raffaele Altara (Eds): Inflammation in heart failure. Academic Press (Elsevier) 2014. ISBN 978-0-12-800039-7

http://store.elsevier.com/Inflammation-in-Heart-Failure/isbn-9780128000397/
 
February 6 - Koen Reesink, MD, PhD, Maastricht University Medical Center
"Constitutive and System Characteristiscs of Large Arteries"

February 13 - Reinier Boon, PhD, Goethe Universitätsklinikum Frankfurt a.M.
"How non-coding RNA affects cardiovascular aging"

February 20 - Carnaval

February 27 - Leon Schurgers, PhD, Maastricht University Medical Center
"Vascular calcification: from innocent bystander to culprit risk factor"

Starts at 7.45 am, Academic hospital Maastricht, Meeting room A3-B3, level 3
Breakfast included! Registration not necessary

Click here for an overview of all the CGRM lectures of the first quarter of 2015

Symposia & events
 
Mini-symposium Vascular Inflammation - 6 February 2015

On Friday 6 February the mini-symposium Vascular Inflammation takes place from 10.15-12.00h in the Tongerenzaal (UNS 40 A0.771). Click here for the program and more information on the speakers.
 

Maastricht Consensus Conference on Thrombosis - 11-13 February 2015

The Maastricht Consensus Conference on Thrombosis (MCCT) takes place from 11 until 13 February 2015 in the MECC in Maastricht. The MCCT will be a hybrid meeting containing both active as well as more "passive" elements (intensive workshops, and plenary lectures). Consensus will be sought on future directions for research.

The Maastricht Consensus Conference on Thrombosis will be theme-focused and will involve clinicians, epidemiologists and basic scientists, who will jointly explore new avenues for research in the area of thrombosis and haemostasis. The Maastricht Consensus Conference on Thrombosis is a 3 day meeting, involving plenary lectures by prominent scientists and experts in the field on a chosen theme, followed by highly interactive, intensive workshops in which the interaction between the experienced scientists, PhD students and postdocs is used to explore gaps in research or knowledge on specific topics.

Local organising committee:
Prof. Hugo ten Cate
Dr Arina ten Cate - Hoek
Dr Yvonne Henskens
Dr Paola van der Meijden
Dr Henri Spronk
Prof. Cees Wittens

Visit www.mcct.eu for more information, registration and the full programme.

The first meeting of the Maastricht Working Group on Cardiovascular Systems Biology initiative will take place on 12th March 2015 (place: Jo Ritzenzaal (Auditorium) at OXF55 (Oxfordlaan 55, 6229 EV Maastricht, time: 16:30-19:30). This Working Group is initiated with the goal of bringing together researchers in the Maastricht area interested in application of “systems biology” approaches to the cardiovascular system. The main aim of the Working Group is to inspire and initiate new research directions and collaborations. The meeting will serve as an open platform to showcase the different systems biology projects ongoing in Maastricht.

The first meeting will kick off with two presentations (John Walmsley: "Patient-specific modelling to improve selection of cardiac resynchronization therapy candidates: Where are we now?" and Joost Lumens: "How to crack the mechanical dyssynchrony code?") followed by a set of short, 5 min, pitch presentations of ideas/challenges in the field and ended with networking/social interaction over drinks and snacks. This initiative is an open Working Group, which means that everybody is welcome to join at any time. For further information, contact one of the organising committee members Pawel Kuklik, Joost Lumens or John Walmsley.

School Council meetings 2015

Tuesday April 14
Thursday June 18
Thursday October 22

 
Academic events

PhD Conferral Sandra Sanders-van Wijk, Thursday 5 February 2015, 16.00 hours
Supervisor: Prof. H.P. Brunner-La Rocca
Co-supervisor: Dr V.P. van Empel
Title: "Biomarkers in heart failure: towards individualized therapy"

PhD Conferral Dennis H.M. Kusters, Friday 6 February 2015, 16.00 hours
Supervisor: Prof. C. Reutelingsperger
Co-supervisor: Dr L.J. Schurgers
Title: "Annexin A1 and annexin A5 in cardiovascular disease"

Inaugural lecture Prof. Chris Evelo, Friday 6 March 2015, 16.30 hours
Prof. Chris Evelo has been appointed a chair in "Bioinformatics for integrative systems biology". He will give his inaugural lecture entitled "Puzzling with the pathways of life" on Friday 6 March at 16.30h in the Aula at the Minderbroedersberg.
Grant deadlines

NHS Student Scholarships - Deadline: February 19, 2015
Click here for more information and the application form

ERC Consolidator Grant - Deadline: March 12, 2015
Click here for the call 

Kootstra Fellowship program - Deadline: April 1, 2015
Click here for more information

 
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www.carimmaastricht.nl

Our mailing address is:
CARIM-office@maastrichtuniversity.nl
 
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