NL
DE
22 August 2019
After my study, I did my PhD at the AMC in Amsterdam in the Genetic Metabolic Laboratory under the supervision of Ronald Wanders and Sacha Ferdinandusse. That was my first encounter with a mixed function lab, with translational research and patient diagnostics tightly connected within one laboratory. There I had my first practical experience with mass spectrometry.
After finishing my PhD in Amsterdam I started as a post-doc in the Laboratory of Pediatrics and Neurology of the Radboud university medical center, where I dived into the world of mass spectrometry and especially proteomics. Now, this lab is named the Translational Metabolic Laboratory, and I am still working there as a group leader of the translational proteomics group and since 2018 also as a coordinator of the Radboud Technology Center for Mass Spectrometry.
Nominate a colleague to be in the spotlight and what would you like to ask him or her?
Marien de Jonge. What is your secret to always being so enthusiastic and positive. Even about experiments that did not work out as planned.
b) Theater or cinema? : Theater
c) Dine out or dine in? : Dine out
d) Ferrari or Fiat? : Neither, but if I have to choose: Fiat
e) Shopaholic or chocoholic? : Chocoholic
f) Culture or Nature : Nature
When you were a kid what did you want to be when you grew up? Can you tell us something about your child years.
As a child, I was always interested to find out how things worked. I liked to take machines apart and try to rebuild them. Also, I loved sports, especially handball and tennis. I didn’t really think of what I wanted to become, at 4th grade in high school I wanted to study physics, but more and more I became interested in how the human body works.What was your previous academic training, where did you study and why that study?
Since I wanted to learn how our body works and what happens in disease, I decided to study chemistry at Utrecht University with a specialisation in Biochemistry. As part of my last internship I went to the university of Münster for 4 months where I really had a great time. I still have contact with the people from the Biochemistry group there. As I had never worked in a company, I also did an extra internship at Bayer Wuppertal in the cardiovascular research group.After my study, I did my PhD at the AMC in Amsterdam in the Genetic Metabolic Laboratory under the supervision of Ronald Wanders and Sacha Ferdinandusse. That was my first encounter with a mixed function lab, with translational research and patient diagnostics tightly connected within one laboratory. There I had my first practical experience with mass spectrometry.
After finishing my PhD in Amsterdam I started as a post-doc in the Laboratory of Pediatrics and Neurology of the Radboud university medical center, where I dived into the world of mass spectrometry and especially proteomics. Now, this lab is named the Translational Metabolic Laboratory, and I am still working there as a group leader of the translational proteomics group and since 2018 also as a coordinator of the Radboud Technology Center for Mass Spectrometry.
The RIMLS motto is: ‘Today’s molecules for tomorrow’s medicine’. What does this mean for you?
I really think that it is essential to know all about the molecular pathways that take place in our bodies, not only in health but especially in disease. That’s why I chose to study biochemistry and then started working in academic medical centers. When we understand how these complex pathways act alone and in concert, we will better be able to intervene in case of disease to correct the malfunctions. At least that is what I hope.Who is your great example as scientists? And please give a motivation why.
I like to choose my examples close by, within the people that I personally know. If I have to name one: Ronald Wanders, my promotor, for his great knowledge, enthusiasm and his open attitude to collaborations with other groups. But most of all, for the fact that he always had time for me (as his PhD student) despite of his many management tasks as head of a big laboratory. Now that I also supervise PhD students and lead a research group (albeit a small one), I realize how special it was that I never felt that he didn’t have time for me or my questions in research.Which research discovery that you have made has made you most proud?
I cannot name one specific research discovery. But if I think of work-related things: I am proud of creating a nice group of people that work closely together and help each other and of the personal development of all people working in my group.Given unlimited finance what experiment would you perform?
I would like to generate proteomic and metabolic profiles of a selection of sample cohorts (or even all samples?) in the Radboudumc biobank and work together with bioinformaticians of the CMBI and within the X-omics research project to develop generic data analysis pipelines to make sense of these data and combine them. Then I would like to work with all researchers that provided the cohorts in the Biobank to filter out relevant information for research or even development of new diagnostic tools.What does your working area (desk, office) look like and what does it say about you (or your research)?
My desk normally is quite organized. lso in my research I like to have a good overview of the project and plan ahead. However, at home I really are not that organized, so I’m not sure if it says anything about me.Nominate a colleague to be in the spotlight and what would you like to ask him or her?
Marien de Jonge. What is your secret to always being so enthusiastic and positive. Even about experiments that did not work out as planned.
What type of person are you, quick insights:
a) Mac or PC? : Mac (at home)/PC (at work)b) Theater or cinema? : Theater
c) Dine out or dine in? : Dine out
d) Ferrari or Fiat? : Neither, but if I have to choose: Fiat
e) Shopaholic or chocoholic? : Chocoholic
f) Culture or Nature : Nature
