Casper Schalkwijk

Professor

Prof. Casper Schalkwijk studied chemistry at University Utrecht and graduated in biochemistry. At the same university he obtained his PhD in 1992. He did post-graduate training in endothelial cell biology at TNO-PG in Leiden. He was appointed in 1995 as assistant professor and staff member at the Department of Clinical Chemistry at the Vrije Universiteit Medical Cente in Amsterdam and from 2004 as associate professor. He has led the Vascular Unit. He moved to the Department of Internal Medicine at Maastricht University in 2005, where he is heading the Laboratory for Metabolism and Vascular Medicine (~15fte). He was appointed as Professor of Experimental Internal Medicine at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML) of Maastricht UMC+ in 2011.

His main research themes are obesity, insulin resistance, endothelial function and vascular complications. The importance of endothelial dysfunction for the development of diabetic complications is studied in epidemiological setting with the availability of several cohorts and with experimental ex-vivo -, animal - and cell work. He has led several clinical studies. A major aim of his programme is to deliver specific and sensitive diagnostic biomarkers for the identification of patients developing  type 2 diabetes and to identify patients with high risk of vascular complications. Robust analytical techniques for measurements of biomarkers with multi-array technology and with UPLC-MSMS are available. A second aim of his programme is to obtain insight in the pathophysiology of vascular complications in diabetes. His current studies focus mainly on the importance non-enzymatic glycation for the development of diabetes and diabetic complications. He discovered, as one of the first, the link between AGEs and vascular complications in individuals with and without diabetes. He is an (inter)nationally recognised expert in the field of glycation. His lab is one of the most renowned labs in this field.The work has been supported by several grants and is now granted by the Diabetes Fonds Nederland, EFSD, NWO, ZonMw and NVWA.

Department of Internal Medicine
Universiteitssingel 50, 6229 ER Maastricht
PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht
Room number: 5.324
T: +31(0)43 388 21 86

  • 2024
    • Werkman, N. C. C., García-Sáez, G., Nielen, J. T. H., Tapia-Galisteo, J., Somolinos-Simón, F. J., Hernando, M. E., Wang, J., Jiu, L., Goettsch, W. G., van der Kallen, C. J. H., Koster, A., Schalkwijk, C. G., de Vries, H., de Vries, N. K., Eussen, S. J. P. M., Driessen, J. H. M., & Stehouwer, C. D. A. (2024). Disease severity-based subgrouping of type 2 diabetes does not parallel differences in quality of life: the Maastricht Study. Diabetologia, 67(4), 690-702. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-023-06082-4
    • Baylan, U., Baidoshvili, A., Simsek, S., Schalkwijk, C. G., Niessen, H., & Krijnen, P. (2024). Increased accumulation of the advanced glycation endproduct Ne(carboxymethyl) lysine in the intramyocardial vasculature in patients with epicarditis. International Journal of Experimental Pathology, 105(2), 48-51. https://doi.org/10.1111/iep.12499
    • van Gennip, A. C. E., Gupta, M. D., Houben, A. J. H. M., Berendschot, T. T. J. M., Webers, C. A. B., van Greevenbroek, M. M. J., van der Kallen, C. J. H., Koster, A., Wesselius, A., Eussen, S. J. P. M., Schalkwijk, C. G., de Galan, B. E., Köhler, S., Schram, M. T., Stehouwer, C. D. A., & van Sloten, T. T. (2024). Retinal microvascular function and incidence and trajectories of clinically relevant depressive symptoms: the Maastricht Study. Psychological Medicine, 1-10. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291724000618
    • Debras, C., Cordova, R., Mayén, A.-L., Maasen, K., Knaze, V., Eussen, S. J., Schalkwijk, C. G., Huybrechts, I., Tjønneland, A., Halkjær, J., Katzke, V., Bajracharya, R., Schulze, M. B., Masala, G., Pala, V., Pasanisi, F., Macciotta, A., Petrova, D., Castañeda, J., ... Freisling, H. (2024). Dietary intake of dicarbonyl compounds and changes in body weight over time in a large cohort of European adults. British Journal of Nutrition, 1-13. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114524000503
    • Beran, M., van Gennip, A. C. E., Stehouwer, C. D. A., Jansen, J. F. A., Gupta, M. D., Houben, A. J. H. M., Berendschot, T. T. J. M., Webers, C. A. B., Wesselius, A., Schalkwijk, C. G., Backes, W. H., de Jong, J. J. A., van der Kallen, C. J. H., van Greevenbroek, M. M. J., Köhler, S., Vonk, J. M. J., Geerlings, M. I., Schram, M. T., & van Sloten, T. T. (2024). Microvascular Dysfunction and Whole-Brain White Matter Connectivity: The Maastricht Study. Journal of the American Heart Association, 13(3), Article e9112. https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.123.031573
    • D'Haese, S., Claes, L., de Laat, I., Van Campenhout, S., Deluyker, D., Heeren, E., Haesen, S., Lambrichts, I., Wouters, K., Schalkwijk, C. G., Hansen, D., Eijnde, B., & Bito, V. (2024). Moderate-Intensity and High-Intensity Interval Exercise Training Offer Equal Cardioprotection, with Different Mechanisms, during the Development of Type 2 Diabetes in Rats. Nutrients, 16(3), Article 431. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16030431
    • Bellini, S., Guarrera, S., Matullo, G., Schalkwijk, C., Stehouwer, C. D., Chaturvedi, N., Soedamah-Muthu, S. S., Barutta, F., & Gruden, G. (2024). Serum MicroRNA-191-5p Levels in Vascular Complications of Type 1 Diabetes: the EURODIAB Prospective Complications Study. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 109(1), E163-E174. https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgad468
    • van der Heide, F. C. T., Khawaja, A., Berendschot, T. T. J. M., Littlejohns, T. J., Kuźma, E., Luben, R., Patel, P. J., Foster, P. J., Webers, C., Kroon, B., van der Kallen, C., van Dongen, M., Eussen, S., Schalkwijk, C., Bosma, H., Koehler, S., Schram, M., Blokland, G., Linden, D., ... Stehouwer, C. D. A. (2024). Associations of inner retinal layers with risk of incident dementia: An individual participant data analysis of four prospective cohort studies. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 20(1), 211-220. Article 13167. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.13167
  • 2023
    • Mokhtar, S. B. A., van der Heide, F. C. T., Oyaert, K. A. M., van der Kallen, C. J. H., Berendschot, T. T. J. M., Scarpa, F., Colonna, A., de Galan, B. E., van Greevenbroek, M. M. J., Dagnelie, P. C., Schalkwijk, C. G., Nuijts, R. M. M. A., Schaper, N. C., Kroon, A. A., Schram, M. T., Webers, C. A. B., & Stehouwer, C. D. A. (2023). (Pre)diabetes and a higher level of glycaemic measures are continuously associated with corneal neurodegeneration assessed by corneal confocal microscopy: the Maastricht Study. Diabetologia, 66(11), 2030-2041. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-023-05986-5
    • Berends, E., van Oostenbrugge, R. J., Foulquier, S., & Schalkwijk, C. G. (2023). Methylglyoxal, a highly reactive dicarbonyl compound, as a threat for blood brain barrier integrity. Fluids and barriers of the CNS, 20(1), Article 75. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12987-023-00477-6