I’m a post-doc in the Department of Tumor Immunology at the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre. I study the dynamics of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) with single-particle tracking microscopy, which I believe is a key approach to directly monitor the function of a protein or protein complex within its natural environment.
From the 30th of August to the 13th of September 2011 I have visited the lab of Keith Lidke at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque to perform direct STochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (dSTORM) to gain more insight into the ultrastructure of podosomes.
I am 3rd year PhD student at Leiden University in the group of Thijs J. Aartsma. In my research, we focus on development an ultrasensitive biosensor by exploiting the FluRedox principle. Unlike typical electrochemical sensors, FluRedox biosensors are based on a novel concept, monitoring the redox events in vitro and in vivo by fluorescence detection using Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET), with potential for detection of electron turnover at the single-molecule level. Therefore, we apply this detection method to the redox state of proteins, combining FRET-based fluorescence/confocal microscopy on dye-labeled protein with cyclic voltammetry. By using these combined techniques, electron transfer processes can be monitored from protein to electrode or from redox enzyme to substrate. In a later stage, the method will be applied to enzymes of interest for biosensor development.
The main topic of our project is the optimization and evaluation of co-registered EEG and functional MRI in patients who are candidates for epilepsy surgery. This project is a collaboration between Kempenhaeghe (dr. Pauly Ossenblok and Prof. dr. Paul Boon), VU medical center (dr. Jan de Munck and Prof. Dr. Kees Stam) and UMC Utrecht (dr. Frans Leijten). EEG-fMRI is a relatively new technique, which has been used as a research tool, but our results and the results of other groups indicate that EEG-fMRI is well suitable as a clinical tool
Afgelopen zomer heb ik deelgenomen aan de 118e editie van de Physiology Course van het Marine Biology Laboratory in Woods Hole (USA). Het thema van de Physiology Course was dit jaar ‘Modern Cell Biology using Microscopic, Biochemical and Computational Approaches’, wat erg goed past bij mijn promotie bij Anne Mie Emons (Wageningen Universiteit). De groep van 28 studenten bestond uit PhD studenten, post-docs en beginnende groepsleiders. Elke dag begon met een lezing en 's middags en 's avonds werkten we aan onze projecten.