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Cas Boshoven, PhD candidate in Medical Microbiology, is defending his thesis today (October 29) on molecular research into the malaria parasite. His wife, Julie Verhoef, completed her PhD in the same lab earlier this year – cum laude, no less – on malaria research. It’s celebration time in the Boshoven-Verhoef household as both will soon hold their doctoral titles. A conversation with the couple about this festive milestone.
‘Here’s a fun fact about our PhDs’, Cas begins, ‘we’re first and second author on a paper that appears in both of our theses. Plus, the cover of her thesis makes a cameo in mine.’ Julie adds: ‘In the end, we’re co-authors on three papers.’ Laughs: ‘That’s definitely a bit of relationship goals.’
Cas and Julie now both work as postdocs in Cambridge, England. ‘In different labs, but we’re still both doing malaria research’, says Cas.
Two PhD candidates in one household, how did it all start?
Cas: ‘We started dating in 2019 when we were both doing internships in Melbourne for our master’s in Molecular Mechanisms of Disease. Julie had already secured her own grant to do her PhD in Taco Kooi’s lab. Since I also wanted to do molecular malaria research, I reached out to him – of course with the disclaimer that I was in a relationship with Julie. That’s how we both started our PhDs – Julie in December 2019, me in March 2020 – in the same lab.’
Julie: ‘Funny enough, that worked out well during COVID. I could train Cas right away because we were considered ‘one household.’ Even though our projects were different, we used many of the same techniques and attended the same meetings. After two years, our projects began to overlap, so we started doing more experiments together. We work well as a team. It’s always fun, but we’re also critical of each other’s work, without judgment.’
What’s it like to do your PhDs in the same field, in the same lab? Extra motivation or a challenge?
Cas: ‘From the start, we knew it could be a challenge, but for us it works smoothly. I don’t feel like we’re different people at work, but your private and work life do blend together. In the end, we also became really good friends with many colleagues.’
Julie: ‘Honestly, it’s not an extra challenge. We can often help each other. Because you understand the details of each other’s projects so well, you can bring out the best in each other – or use each other’s skills and knowledge and apply them to your own project. Very practical, haha 😊. Mostly, it’s just really fun to work together like this!’
Cas and Julie at the horse races in Newmarket, near Cambridge.
What’s it like for both of you to work as postdocs in Cambridge?
Cas: ‘Like Nijmegen, Cambridge is a relatively small, manageable city, surrounded by greenery and the river. There’s amazing work being done in many labs here. The name Cambridge definitely has a certain pull.’
Julie: ‘Everything here revolves around the university. Everyone knows – even the students – that getting in isn’t easy. But that ambition also creates lots of opportunities. There’s a real ‘make it happen’ vibe.’
What was your favorite or most special shared moment during your PhDs?
Julie: ‘If I have to pick one, it’s the conference in Melbourne we attended together in our fourth PhD year, in 2024. It was held in a convention center on the beach of a surf town near Melbourne. The content was fascinating too! It really brought things full circle, because five years earlier that was where we started dating.’
Cas: ‘I can only agree 😊.’
