I successfully defended my thesis in Chemical and Biological Engineering and earned PhD title!
Over the past five years, I developed immune-evasive beta cell replacement strategies for Type 1 Diabetes by integrating biomaterials and genetic engineering.
I’m looking forward to meeting fellow researchers, engineers, and innovators while I’m in town. If you’re around or want to chat about muscle models and 3D in vitro models, let’s grab a coffee or connect here!
#3DInVitroModels#NAM#Mantarray#RareDisease#LAMA2#Myopathy
Hello from Seattle! 👋
I’m spending the week at University of Washington and Curi Bio, diving deep into the latest advancements in 3D Engineered Muscle Tissue (EMT) technology.
It’s an honor to represent the FIT project and continue the work we’ve been developing at the Maastricht University. Grateful to my advisor Prof. Bert Smeets, for the guidance and the opportunity to bridge our research with the incredible ecosystem here in the Pacific Northwest.
I would like to thank my PhD advisor Prof. Dr. @SKizilel for the endless support throughout this study, and our collaborator, Prof. Dr. Tamer Önder for all the guidance on CRISPR experiments.
Check out the full paper here: https://t.co/HAoBxuCkRZ
🚨New Publication Alert (and the final piece of my PhD!)
I am thrilled to share my latest article in Frontiers in Immunology: "Single–gene knockout of RNLS or HIVEP2 are insufficient to protect β–cell spheroids from allo– and xeno–rejection."
To conclude, future success will likely require multi-gene editing approaches rather than single targets.
It’s a bittersweet feeling to publish the last paper of my doctorate, but I’m excited for what’s next!
Can’t wait to get started on the exciting research ahead. I also want to send a special thank to my PhD advisor, Prof. @SKizilel, for her exceptional mentorship. Thank you for shaping my career and preparing me for this next step.
I am honored to join Prof. Bert Smeets’ group, where I will be contributing to the Fitness Improving Technology (FIT) project, a cross-border initiative focused on advancing regenerative therapies for muscle diseases, by developing patient derived 3D-skeletal muscle model.
Vibe coding with the newest Gemini model this weekend led to something cool. 🧪✨
I built a comprehensive 3D cell visualizer from scratch in under 4 hours. The efficiency and power of this tool are incredible. I can't wait to use this for my upcoming research projects.
We're partnering with @GoogleResearch to kick off a new series of Featured Notebooks exploring topics ranging from health to science to (of course) AI.
Starting with "How do scientists link genetics to health" this notebook explores some of what we've learned over the past 10 years of genomic research:
https://t.co/XhI2XgNlhj
📚 We highlighted emerging strategies that combine genetic engineering, biomaterials, and computational tools to create immune-protected β-cells for Type 1 Diabetes therapy. (6/6) https://t.co/rtZbpRdObL
🧬 We explored whether removing specific genes could make transplanted β-cells invisible to the immune system. Surprisingly, single knockouts weren’t enough to prevent rejections, showing that immune evasion is a multi-approach challenge. (5/6) https://t.co/Lu7GmFLUFv