Inaugural lecture Prof Irene Heijink

On 6 October 2023 Professor Irene Heijink gave her inaugural lecture titled: “Let’s Keep in Touch: Strong Cell-cell Contacts for Healthy Lungs” in de academic building of the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. Lung diseases are a major social problem. Diseases such as asthma and COPD are common and have a major impact on quality of life. In…

PhD defence of Mehmet Nizamoglu

On 27 September 2023 Mehmet sucessfully defended his thesis titled: “The Extracellular Matrix to Bind Them All: Interactions between ECM and cells in lung fibrosis and influences thereof”. Congratulations, Dr. Mehmet (Matt)!!

ERS Mid-Career GOLD Medal for Martijn Nawijn

Annually, the European Respiratory Society (ERS) presents an array of prestigious awards to acknowledge scientific merit and engagement within the ERS by honouring exceptional members for their exemplary achievements and potential for further outstanding developments in all respiratory areas and within the society. This year, Martijn Nawijn was awarded with a Med-career Golden medal for…

PhD defence of Qing Chen

On 5 July 2023 Qing Chen successfully defended her thesis titled “Beyond (epi)genetic association studies: functional studies op COPD susceptibility genes”. Congratulations, Dr. Qing!

NWO grant for consortium for innovative treatment of COPD

A research consortium led by Irene Heijink from the Department of Pathology & Medical Biology of the UMCG has received a €2.3 million grant from NWO. With this the consortium will conduct research into innovative treatment of COPD. Around 600,000 people in the Netherlands suffer from COPD. To date, this progressive lung disease cannot be…

Chiesi NRS Young Investigator Award to Mehmet Nizamoglu

The 2022 Chiesi Young Investigator Award from the Netherlands Respiratory Society has been awarded to Mehmet Nizamoglu, third-year PhD student working at the department of Pathology & Medical Biology and GRIAC Research Institute at UMCG. Mehmet investigates the influence of changes in extracellular matrix on lung cells in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF).