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Marja van Dieijen Prize PreCIS

Marja van Dieijen Prize PreCIS

24 November 2023

After tallying both the audience score and the jury's score, the innovative project 'PreCIS, addressing medication prescribing cascades' won the Marja van Dieijen Award 2023, worth 25,000 euros.

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€22 million for international research into cardiovascular disease

€22 million for international research into cardiovascular disease

27 October 2023

Prof. Hans-Peter Brunner-La Rocca (Dept. of Cardiology) leads an international research project, focused on personalised prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

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Carim Maastricht
Carim Maastricht

Aaron Isaacs

Assistant Professor

Dr Aaron Isaacs completed his baccalaureate degree at the University of California, Berkeley in 1994. Afterwards, he spent several years working in the business and university administration sectors before entering the genetics field in a mouse genetics laboratory at Columbia University in New York City. In 2002, he moved to the Netherlands, where he embarked on his PhD studies in genetic epidemiology at Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam. He completed and defended his thesis on the genetics of circulating lipid levels in 2007. His expertise in family- and population based genetic studies led to numerous collaborations with researchers on both the national and international levels, studying a broad array of phenotypes including lipid levels, blood pressure, anthropometric traits, ophthalmologic features and many others. Since 2008, he has focussed extensively on the genetics underlying cardiac electrophysiology. In 2015, Aaron moved to the Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht.

Currently, Aaron is working on a number of projects exploring the role of genomics and transcriptomics in a variety of outcomes, predominantly in the realm of cardiac electrophysiology and arrhythmias. These studies, in both population- and family-based settings, utilize large-scale “-omics” datasets, generated through the use of next generation sequencing (particularly RNA sequencing) and microarray technology, and a broad variety of analytical methods, including linkage, association, and bioinformatics approaches, to determine genes involved in disease pathology, progression, or relevant endophenotypes. The findings from these efforts give insight into disease etiology (and consequences); may identify useful targets for therapeutic intervention or biomarkers; and aid in risk stratification or molecular sub-typing of patients. Aaron closely collaborates with a number of CARIM Principal Investigators, conducting work in projects funded by (among others) the European Union and the Nederlandse Hartstichting (Dutch Heart Foundation) and participates in several large international genetics consortia.

Aaron-isaacs

Department of Physiology
Universiteitssingel 60, 6229 ER Maastricht
P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht
Room number: M1.14
T: +31(0)43 388 18 62

  • 2023
    • Young, W. J., Haessler, J., Benjamins, J. W., Repetto, L., Yao, J., Isaacs, A., Harper, A. R., Ramirez, J., Garnier, S., van Duijvenboden, S., Baldassari, A. R., Concas, M. P., Duong, T. V., Foco, L., Isaksen, J. L., Mei, H., Noordam, R., Nursyifa, C., Richmond, A., ... Et al. (2023). Genetic architecture of spatial electrical biomarkers for cardiac arrhythmia and relationship with cardiovascular disease. Nature Communications, 14(1), Article 1411. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36997-w
    • Winters, J., Isaacs, A., Zeemering, S., Kawczynski, M., Maesen, B., Maessen, J., Bidar, E., Boukens, B., Hermans, B., van Hunnik, A., Casadei, B., Fabritz, L., Chua, W., Sommerfeld, L., Guasch, E., Mont, L., Batlle, M., Hatem, S., Kirchhof, P., ... Schotten, U. (2023). Heart Failure, Female Sex, and Atrial Fibrillation Are the Main Drivers of Human Atrial Cardiomyopathy: Results From the CATCH ME Consortium. Journal of the American Heart Association, 12(22), Article 031220. https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.123.031220
    • Lagou, V., Jiang, L., Ulrich, A., Zudina, L., González, K. S. G., Balkhiyarova, Z., Faggian, A., Maina, J. G., Chen, S., Todorov, P. V., Sharapov, S., David, A., Marullo, L., Mägi, R., Rujan, R. M., Ahlqvist, E., Thorleifsson, G., Gao, H., ?vangelou, ., ... Meta-Analyses of Glucose and Insulin-related traits Consortium (MAGIC) (2023). GWAS of random glucose in 476,326 individuals provide insights into diabetes pathophysiology, complications and treatment stratification. Nature Genetics, 55(9), 1448-1461. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-023-01462-3
    • van de Vegte, Y. J., Eppinga, R. N., van der Ende, M. Y., Hagemeijer, Y. P., Mahendran, Y., Salfati, E., Smith, A. V., Tan, V. Y., Arking, D. E., Ntalla, I., Appel, E. V., Schurmann, C., Brody, J. A., Rueedi, R., Polasek, O., Sveinbjornsson, G., Lecoeur, C., Ladenvall, C., Zhao, J. H., ... The DCCT/EDIC Research Group (2023). Genetic insights into resting heart rate and its role in cardiovascular disease. Nature Communications, 14(1), Article 4646. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-39521-2
    • Isaacs, A., Barysenka, A., ter Bekke, R. M. A., den Enden, A. T. J. M. H., van den Wijngaard, A., Volders, P. G. A., & Stoll, M. (2023). Standing genetic variation affects phenotypic heterogeneity in an SCN5A-mutation founder population with excess sudden cardiac death. Heart Rhythm, 20(5), 720-727. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrthm.2023.02.004
  • 2022
    • Zeemering, S., Isaacs, A., Winters, J., Maesen, B., Bidar, E., Dimopoulou, C., Guasch, E., Batlle, M., Haase, D., Hatem, S. N., Kara, M., Kääb, S., Mont, L., Sinner, M. F., Wakili, R., Maessen, J., Crijns, H. J. G. M., Fabritz, L., Kirchhof, P., ... Schotten, U. (2022). Atrial fibrillation in the presence and absence of heart failure enhances expression of genes involved in cardiomyocyte structure, conduction properties, fibrosis, inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction. Heart Rhythm, 19(12), 2115-2124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrthm.2022.08.019
    • Kawczynski, M. J., Van De Walle, S., Maesen, B., Isaacs, A., Zeemering, S., Hermans, B., Vernooy, K., Maessen, J. G., Schotten, U., & Bidar, E. (2022). Preoperative P-wave parameters and risk of atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery: a meta-analysis of 20,201 patients. Interactive Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, 35(4), Article ivac220. https://doi.org/10.1093/icvts/ivac220
    • Young, W. J., Lahrouchi, N., Isaacs, A., Duong, T., Foco, L., Ahmed, F., Brody, J. A., Salman, R., Noordam, R., Benjamins, J-W., Haessler, J., Lyytikäinen, L-P., Repetto, L., Concas, M. P., van den Berg, M. E., Weiss, S., Baldassari, A. R., Bartz, T. M., Cook, J. P., ... Munroe, P. B. (2022). Genetic analyses of the electrocardiographic QT interval and its components identify additional loci and pathways. Nature Communications, 13(1), Article 5144. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32821-z
    • Verhaert, D. V. M., Linz, D., Chaldoupi, S. M., Westra, S. W., den Uijl, D. W., Philippens, S., Kerperien, M., Habibi, Z., Vorstermans, B., ter Bekke, R. M. A., Beukema, R. J., Evertz, R., Hemels, M. E. W., Luermans, J. G. L. M., Manusama, R., Lankveld, T. A. R., van der Heijden, C. A. J., Bidar, E., Hermans, B. M., ... Schotten, U. (2022). Rationale and Design of the ISOLATION Study: A Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study Identifying Predictors for Successful Atrial Fibrillation Ablation in an Integrated Clinical Care and Research Pathway. Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine, 9, Article 879139. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2022.879139
    • Kawczynski, M. J., Zeemering, S., Gilbers, M., Isaacs, A., Verheule, S., Zink, M. D., Maesen, B., Bramer, S., Van Gelder, I. C., Crijns, H. J. G. M., Schotten, U., & Bidar, E. (2022). New-onset perioperative atrial fibrillation in cardiac surgery patients: transient trouble or persistent problem?-Authors' reply. EP Europace, 24(6), 1037-1038. Article 317. https://doi.org/10.1093/europace/euab317
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