theses 2025

Tijmen Koopsen
Supervisors: Prof.ir. Joost Lumens, Prof. Tammo Delhaas
Title: 'Patterns with Potential Advancing Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy through Imaging-Based Personalized Heart Modeling'
17 January

Claudia Schönichen
Supervisors: Prof. Johan Heemskerk | Co-supervisors: Dr Marijke Kuijpers, Prof. Kerstin Jurk (Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz)
Title: 'A jack of all trades: Platelets at the interface of endothelial inflammation and coagulation'
20 January

Yentl Brandt
Supervisors: Prof. Eline Kooi, Prof. Marc Spaanderman | Co-supervisors: Dr Suzanne Gerretsen, Dr Chahinda Ghossein-Doha (Erasmus UMC)
Title: 'Quantitative cardiac imaging in women with a history of preeclampsia'
22 January

Zhewen Ren
Supervisor: Prof. Martijn Brouwers | Co-supervisor: Dr Anke Wesselius
Title: 'Socioeconomic determinants and cardiometabolic consequences of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease'
27 January

Joram Huckriede
Supervisors: Dr Gerry Nicolaes, Prof. Chris Reutelingsperger | Co-supervisor: Dr Kanin Wichapong
Title: 'Extracellular Histones as Novel Theranostic Targets in Severe Infection and lmmunothrombosis'
5 February

Floor Salden
Supervisors: Prof. Frits Prinzen, Prof. Kevin Vernooy
Title: 'New-fashioned cardiac pacing: Spring forward, fall back to nature’s way'
6 February

Veerle van Hulten
Supervisors: Prof. J.P. van den Bergh, Prof. Martijn Brouwers | Co-supervisors: Dr Annemariek Driessen
Title: 'Bone strength, microarchitecture, and fracture risk in Type 2 Diabetes'
13 February

Henry Davies
Supervisors: Prof. Barend Mees, Prof. J.A. Scott, Leeds University, UK
Title: 'End of life and palliative care for vascular patients'
11 March

Simona Esposito
Supervisors: Prof. Hugo ten Cate, Prof. Licia Iacoviello, IRCCS Neuromed, Italy | Co-supervisor: Dr Marialaura Bonaccio, IRCCS Neuromed, Italy
Title: 'Diet and biological ageing: A thorough analysis in the moli-sani study cohort'
12 March

Siyu Sun
Supervisor: Prof. Johan Heemskerk| Co-supervisors: Dr Bas de Laat, Synapse Research Institute Maastricht, Dr Mark Roest, Synapse Research Institute Maastricht
Title: 'Platelets, Red Blood Cells, Fibrinogen and Endothelial Cells: Essential Components in Blood Clotting'
24 March

Myrthe Willemars
Supervisor: Prof. Jan Glatz | Co-supervisors: Dr Miranda Nabben, Dr Joost Luiken, Dr Dietbert Neumann
Title: 'Untangling the threads of the heart  Sex differences in cardiac metabolism and the role in cardiac' hypertrophy'
2 April

Ahmed Beela
Supervisors: Prof. ir. Joost Lumens, Prof. Tammo Delhaas | Co-supervisor: Dr Lieven Herbots, Jessa Hospital, Hasselt
Title: ' The Paradox of Mechanical Dyssynchrony in Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Reflections on diastolic function, guidelines, and sex differences'
7 April

Wenting You
Supervisors: Prof. C.P.M. Reutelingsperger, Prof. C.A.B. Webers | Co-supervisors: Dr T.G.M.F. Gorgels, Dr T.T.J.M. Berendschot
Title: 'Reversing Fate; Rescuing Dying Neurons from Regulated Cell Death'
17 April

Yuandi Zhao
Supervisors: Prof. Maarten Honing, Prof. Ingrid Dijkgraaf | Co-supervisor: Dr Darya Hadavi
Title: 'Multimodal Analytical Strategies in Drug Discovery'
22 April

Afrah Malik
Supervisors: Prof. Tammo Delhaas, Prof. Werner Mess
Co-supervisors: Dr.ir. Koen Reesink
Title: 'Bridging the Gap Developing Screening Tools for the Early Detection of Carotid Artery Disease'
6 May

Rogier Veltrop
Supervisor: Prof. Leon Schurgers
Co-supervisor: Dr Magdalena Harakolova
Title: 'Mechanosensitive signalling pathways in cardiolaminopathy - LMNA mechanobiochemistry and cardiac cell signalling'
15 May

Daniëlle Holthuijsen
Supervisor: Prof.ir. Matty Weijenberg
Co-supervisors: Dr Simone Eussen, Dr Eline van Roekel, Dr Martijn Bours
Title: 'Unraveling the role of the kynurenine pathway in colorectal cancer survivorship: associations with dietary intake and domains of quality of life'
16 May

Inge Luu
Supervisor: Prof. Hugo ten Cate
Co-supervisor: Dr Daan van Twist (Zuyderland MC)
Title: 'Diagnostic strategies for venous thromboembolism'
21 May

Xiaofei Zhao
Supervisors: Dr Boy Houben, Prof. Miranda Schram
Title: 'Microvascular Dysfunction in Cardiometabolic Disease: a focus on Hyperglycemia'
26 May

Giorgia D'Italia
Supervisors: Prof. Judith Cosemans, Prof. Blanche Schroen
Title: 'From Platelets to Long Non-Coding RNAs: Understanding Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction' 
27 May

Thomas Godschalik
Supervisors: Prof. Uli Schotten, Prof. Elena Matsa (University College Cork, Ireland)
Co-supervisors: Dr Mariana Argenziano (Ncardia Leiden, NL)
Title: 'In vitro modeling of atrial inflammation using human induced pluripotent stem cells' 
2 June

Maike Imkamp
Supervisor: Prof. André Dekker
Co-supervisors: Dr Sander van Kuijk. Dr Bas van Bussel
Title: 'Clinical research in the era of data science'
5 June

Bart Scheenstra
Supervisors: Prof. Arnoud van 't Hof, Prof. Jos Maessen
Co-supervisor: Dr Laura Hochstenbach
Title: 'The Long and Winding Road to Better Cardiovascular Health Empowering Patients to Reduce the Risk of Adverse Cardiovascular Outcomes'
5 June

Claudia Manetti
Supervisors: Prof. Joost Lumens, Prof. Tammo Delhaas
Co-supervisor: Dr Nick van Osta
Title: 'Virtual Patients, Real Data: Exploring Mechanistic and Therapeutic Advances in Heart Failure through Virtual Patients and Cohorts'
12 June

Sara D'Haese - Double degree
Supervisors: Prof. Casper Schalkwijk, Prof. Virginie Bito (Hasselt University)
Co-supervisors: Dr Kristiaan Wouters, Prof. Bert Op ’t Eijnde (Hasselt University),  Prof. Dominique Hansen (Hasselt University)
Title: 'Mitigating diabetic cardiomyopathy: Evaluating exercise training and pyridoxamine as cardioprotective approaches'
17 June

Hala Ajjour - Double degree
Supervisors: Prof. Leon Schurgers, Prof. Gian Paolo Rossi (Padova University, Italy)
Co-supervisor: Dr Livia Lenzini (Padova University, Italy)
Title: 'Mitochondrial Function in Aldosterone Dependent Human Hypertension'
18 June

Berta Ganizada
Supervisors: Prof. Leon Schurgers, Prof. Jos Maessen, Dr Elham Bidar | Co-supervisor: Dr Koen Reesink
Title: 'A systems approach to aortic wall pathology: bridging fundamental research and clinical practice'
2 July

Sai Sundararaman
Supervisors: Prof. Erik Biessen, Prof. Joachim Jankowski | Co-supervisor: Dr Emiel van der Vorst (RTWH Aachen University)
Title: 'Role of PCSK9 and CaSR in cardiovascular disorders'
4 September

Silvia Mariani
Supervisors: Prof. Roberto Lorusso, Prof. Jos Maessen | Co-supervisor: Dr Bas van Bussel
Title: 'Current status and targets for improvement in postcardiotomy extracorporeal life support'
16 September

Angeliki Darma
Supervisor: Prof. Kevin Vernooy | Co-supervisors: Dr Rachel ter Bekke, Dr Nikolaos Dagres (Charite University Berlin)
Title: 'Contemporary management of patients with structural heart disease undergoing catheter ablation of ventricular arrhythmias'
24 September

Sanne Mourmans
Supervisor: Dr Vanessa van Empel | Co-supervisors: Dr Christian Knacksted, Dr Ed Eringa
Title: 'Paving the way for improved management of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: the role of microvascular dysfunction and comorbidities'
25 September

Jeffrey Chan
Supervisors: Prof. Hans Bosma, Dr Annemarie Koster
Title: 'The Impact of Neighborhood Environments on Lifestyle, Socioeconomic Health Disparities, and Cardiovascular Disease'
16 October

Anxhela Habibi, 
Supervisors: Prof. Leon Schurgers, Prof. Wolfram Ruf (Universität Mainz) | Co-supervisor: Dr Stefan Kauschke (Boehringer Ingelheim)
Title: 'Protease-activated receptors in vascular smooth muscle cells: a bridge between coagulation and vascular remodeling'
17 October

Richard Dohmen
Supervisor: Prof. Mark Post | Co-supervisor: Dr Joshua Flack
Title: 'Fat from muscle: Fibro-adipogenic progenitors as a source for cultured fat production'
20 October

Jakob Weiß
Supervisors: Prof. Hugo Aerts | Co-supervisor: Prof. Michael Lu (MGH&HMS)
Title: 'Improving personalized risk estimation using routine medical imaging studies: An opportunistic screening approach'
20 October

Sara Mokhtar
Supervisor: Prof. Carroll Webers  | Co-supervisors: Dr Carla van der Kallen, Dr Tos Berendschot 
Title: 'Eyes on neurodegeneration: The Maastricht Study'
27 October

Maurits Sikking
Supervisor: Prof. Stephane Heymans | Co-supervisors: Dr Michiel Henkens, Dr Job Verdonschot
Title: 'Immune-mediated dilated cardiomyopathy next steps towards targeted immunotherapy'
30 October

Thijs Delnoij
Supervisors: Prof. Iwan van der Horst, Prof. Roberto Lorusso | Co-supervisor: Dr Marcel van de Poll
Title: 'ExtraCorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: How, where, who and at what cost?'
30 October

Faysal Benali
Supervisors: Prof. Wim van Zwam, Prof. Robert van Oostenbrugge, Prof. Mayank Goyal (University of Calgary, Canada)
Title: 'Brain resilience and heparin flush in endovascular thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke, challenging current literature'
5 November

Victor Gonçalves Marques
Supervisor: Prof. Uli Schotten | Co-supervisors: Dr Stef Zeemering, Dr Pietro Bonizzi, Dr Simone Pezzuto  (University of Trento, Italy)
Title: 'Navigating atrial fibrillation: A modeling perspective into mapping and ablation'
6 November

Melania Buonocunto
Supervisors: Prof. Joost Lumens, Prof. Tammo Delhaas, Prof. Jordi Heijman (Medical University of Graz, Austria)
Title: 'Stretching boundaries: Bridging mechanical and electrical functions of the heart: a multiscale in silico characterization of the pro-arrhythmic effects of stretch-activated ion channels'
14 November

Ellen Denessen
Supervisor: Prof. Otto Bekers | Co-supervisor: Dr Alma Mingels
Title: 'Cardiac troponin: Tracking its journey in cells and patients'
28 November

Kelly Nies
Supervisor: Prof. Eline Kooi | Co-supervisors: Prof. Robert van Oostenbrugge, Prof. Luc Smits, Prof. Manuela Joore
Title: 'Personalized ischemic stroke risk prediction utilizing plaque vulnerability in symptomatic carotid artery disease'
2 December

Aaron Iding
Supervisors: Dr Arina ten Cate-Hoek, Prof. Hugo ten Cate, Prof. Philipp Wild (Universitätsmedizin Mainz)
Title: 'Residual venous obstruction and long-term outcomes after deep vein thrombosis: Towards improved prediction and prevention'
10 December

Bob Knapen
Supervisors: Prof. Wim van Zwam, Prof. Robert van Oostenbrugge | Co-supervisor: Dr Christiaan van der Leij
Title: 'Optimizing recanalization in acute ischemic stroke patients: Encompassing intravenous thrombolysis and endovascular treatment'
18 December