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Studentbeurzen Nederlandse Hartstichting 2022 Call for Proposals - Deadline 1 september 2023

Studentbeurzen Nederlandse Hartstichting 2022 Call for Proposals - Deadline 1 september 2023

11 May 2023

Binnen het dr. E. Dekker-programma voor persoonsgebonden beurzen stelt de Nederlandse Hartstichting per universiteit twee studentbeurzen beschikbaar. De beurs bedraagt maximaal € 3.000.

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Harry Crijns Research Grant - Deadline 17 september 2023

Harry Crijns Research Grant - Deadline 17 september 2023

25 April 2023

De Harry Crijns Research Grant, in het leven geroepen door het Hart en vaat onderzoekfonds Limburg, in te stelle wordt periodiek toegekend aan jonge wetenschappers die zich bezighouden met klinisch cardiovasculair onderzoek en daarmee bijdragen aan de realisering van de doelstellingen van de foundation.

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Carim Maastricht
Carim Maastricht

Boy Houben

Associate professor

Alfons (Boy) Houben is Associate Professor at the Department of Internal Medicine of Maastricht UMC+. He graduated in Biology at the University of Nijmegen, and received his PhD, in Maastricht in 1993, on early microcirculatory changes in patients with type 1 diabetes. He has longstanding expertise in human (non-invasive) micro- and macrovascular function tests in combination with (pharmacological) interventions, and in the epidemiological setting (The Maastricht Study). Using this unique approach, his main research interest is on the role of microvascular dysfunction in cardiometabolic diseases. An additional focus in his present research is the effects of lifestyle modifications in order to improve microvascular function. He is Past-President of the European Society for Microcirculation, chair of the Dutch Society for Microcirculation and Vascular Biology, and member of several other international scientific societies.

The focus of my research for many years has been microvascular dysfunction (MVD) as both a cause and a consequence of (cardio)metabolic diseases. One important function of the microcirculation is to deliver oxygen/nutrients to all tissues and to remove waste products. In normal metabolism this includes the delivery of glucose, which taken up by the gut following a meal, to skeletal muscle in order to be stored as glycogen. For that, insulin plays an important role by stimulating the endothelium to produce nitric oxide (NO), which leads to recruitment of capillaries in skeletal muscle and thus an increase in exchange surface. As a result, both glucose and insulin can reach skeletal muscle cells quickly and easily in order to store glucose in the cells. In our working hypothesis, we state that MVD may disturb this insulin-mediated glucose delivery/uptake, leading to metabolic insulin resistance and contributing to the development of type 2 diabetes. Within the framework of The Maastricht Study (a population-based cohort study), we perform deep phenotyping of the microcirculation. By using this approach, we are looking for (early) determinants of MVD, and study the role of MVD in the development and progression of various diseases (e.g. (pre)diabetes, heart failure, and depression).

Boy-houben

Department of Internal Medicine
P. Debyelaan 25, 6229 HX Maastricht 
PO Box 5800, 6202 AZ Maastricht

  • 2023
    • van der Heide, F. C. T., Eussen, S. J. P. M., Houben, A. J. H. M., Henry, R. M. A., Kroon, A. A., van der Kallen, C. J. H., Dagnelie, P. C., van Dongen, M. C. J. M., Berendschot, T. T. J. M., Schouten, J. S. A. G., Webers, C. A. B., van Greevenbroek, M. M. J., Wesselius, A., Schalkwijk, C. G., Koster, A., Jansen, J. F. A., Backes, W. H., Beulens, J. W. J., & Stehouwer, C. D. A. (2023). Alcohol consumption and microvascular dysfunction: a J-shaped association: The Maastricht Study. Cardiovascular Diabetology, 22(1), [67]. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12933-023-01783-x
    • Zhou, T. L., Schutten, M. T. J., Kroon, A. A., Henry, R. M. A., Houben, A. J. H. M., van der Kallen, C. J. H., van Greevenbroek, M. M. J., de Leeuw, P. W., & Stehouwer, C. D. A. (2023). Urinary Sodium Excretion and Salt Intake Are Not Associated With Blood Pressure Variability in a White General Population. Journal of the American Heart Association, 12(1), [e026578]. https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.122.026578
  • 2022
    • Maasen, K., Eussen, S. J. P. M., Dagnelie, P. C., Houben, A. J. H. M., Webers, C. A. B., Schram, M. T., Berendschot, T. T. J. M., Stehouwer, C. D. A., Opperhuizen, A., van Greevenbroek, M. M. J., & Schalkwijk, C. G. (2022). Habitual intake of dietary methylglyoxal is associated with less low-grade inflammation: the Maastricht Study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 116(6), 1715-1728. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqac195
    • Janssen, L. E. F., Simons, N., Simons, P. I. H. G., Schaper, N. C., Feskens, E. J. M., van der Ploeg, L. M. C., Van den Eynde, M. D. G., Schalkwijk, C. G., Houben, A. J. H. M., Stehouwer, C. D. A., & Brouwers, M. C. G. J. (2022). Effects of fructose restriction on blood pressure: Secondary analysis of a double-blind randomized controlled trial. Clinical Nutrition ESPEN, 51, 97-103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnesp.2022.07.009
    • van Dinther, M., Voorter, P. H. M., Schram, M. T., Berendschot, T. T. J. M., Houben, A. J. H. M., Webers, C. A. B., van Oostenbrugge, R. J., Backes, W. H., Staals, J., & Jansen, J. F. A. (2022). Retinal microvascular function is associated with the cerebral microcirculation as determined by intravoxel incoherent motion MRI. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 440, [120359]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jns.2022.120359
    • Jin, S., Kusters, Y. H. A. M., Houben, A. J. H. M., Plat, J., Joris, P. J., Mensink, R. P., Schalkwijk, C. G., Stehouwer, C. D. A., & van Greevenbroek, M. M. J. (2022). A randomized diet-induced weight-loss intervention reduces plasma complement C3: Possible implication for endothelial dysfunction. Obesity, 30(7), 1401-1410. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.23467
    • Sharma, S., Katz, R., Ginsberg, C., Bullen, A., Vallon, V., Thomson, S., Moe, O. W., Hoofnagle, A. N., de Leeuw, P. W., Kroon, A. A., Houben, A. J. H. M., & Ix, J. H. (2022). Renal Clearance of Fibroblast Growth Factor-23 (FGF23) and its Fragments in Humans. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 37(6), 1170-1178. https://doi.org/10.1002/jbmr.4553
    • Linkens, A. M. A., van Best, N., Niessen, P. M., Wijckmans, N. E. G., de Goei, E. E. C., Scheijen, J. L. J. M., van Dongen, M. C. J. M., van Gool, C. C. J. A. W., de Vos, W. M., Houben, A. J. H. M., Stehouwer, C. D. A., Eussen, S. J. M. P., Penders, J., & Schalkwijk, C. G. (2022). A 4-Week Diet Low or High in Advanced Glycation Endproducts Has Limited Impact on Gut Microbial Composition in Abdominally Obese Individuals: The deAGEing Trial. International journal of molecular sciences, 23(10), [5328]. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23105328
    • Mashnafi, S., Plat, J., Mensink, R. P., Joris, P. J., Kusters, Y. H. A. M., Houben, A. J. H. M., Stehouwer, C. D. A., Schalkwijk, C. G., & Baumgartner, S. (2022). Effects of Diet-Induced Weight Loss on Plasma Markers for Cholesterol Absorption and Synthesis: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Trial in Abdominally Obese Men. Nutrients, 14(8), [1546]. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14081546
    • Linkens, A. M. A., Houben, A. J., Niessen, P. M., Wijckmans, N., de Goei, E., Van den Eynde, M. D. G., Scheijen, J. L. J. M., Waarenburg, M., Mari, A., Berendschot, T. T. J. M., Streese, L., Hanssen, H., van Dongen, M. C. J. M., van Gool, C., Stehouwer, C. D. A., Eussen, S. J. P. M., & Schalkwijk, C. (2022). A 4-week high-AGE diet does not impair glucose metabolism and vascular function in obese individuals. JCI INSIGHT, 7(6), [156950]. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.156950
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