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Patrick W.B. Derksen, PhD

(Oldenzaal, 23 May 1970)

Professor of Experimental & Preclinical Oncology


SUMMARY

Professor and Principal Investigator (PI) at the University Medical Center (UMC) Utrecht with an outstanding track record in discovery and preclinical oncology. Specialist in conditional knockout mouse models, with a focus on loss of cell adhesion and tumor progression in breast cancer. International work experience and a strong international network builder in the academic field. Has generated high-impact publications in top scientific journals. Successful acquisition of external funding (approx.1M€/year). Trilingual business fluency in English, Dutch and German. Currently heading a Research lab with 6FTE scientific personnel. Head of Research at the Pathology Department and supervising manager of the Central Tissue Facility. Initiator and Head of the UMC Utrecht Mouse Cancer Clinic. Coordinator of the BSc Clinical Oncology course (Biomedical Sciences). Founder of the European Lobular Breast Cancer Consortium (24 Institutes, 50+ PI’s, 5 patient advocates, 22 countries) in part sponsored by COST (CA19138).

EDUCATION | TRAINING

1998-2003       PhD, Molecular Biology  (Academic Medical Center/University of Amsterdam).

WORK EXPERIENCE

University Medical Center (UMC) Utrecht, The Netherlands. (Depts. of Pathology and Medical Oncology)

2021 – current    Professor
2010 – 2021        Associate Professor
2007 – 2010        Assistant Professor

Main achievements:        
– Formed, expanded and consolidated successful lines of research.
– Earned international recognition.
– Received personal NWO-VIDI grant

Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.  (Division of Molecular Biology)

2003 – 2007      Post-Doctoral Fellow

Main achievements:
– Published in the top Cancer Journal (Cancer Cell).
– Received personal NWO-VENI award.

LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE

–  Supervised 20 PhD-track graduate and >20 undergraduate (MSc/BSc) students.
–  Heading an independent research group of 14 externally-funded researchers.
–  Founder of the European Lobular Breast Cancer Consortium (ELBCC).
–  Board Member of the Cancer Research UK New Investigator Panel.
–  Member of the Science Board UMC Utrecht (Division Laboratories and Biomedical Genetics).

INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES

–  Founder and Chair of the European Lobular Breast Cancer Consortium (ELBCC)
–  Chair of the COST Action LOBSTERPOT (CA19138)
–  Actively collaborating with 15 International peers
–  More than 20 Seminars as Invited Speaker
–  Research Sabbatical (2013-2014). Salk Institute for Biological Sciences, La Jolla, CA
–  BSc Internship (1997), University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
–  Member of European Network of Breast Development and Cancer Labs.
–  Member of American Association for Cancer Research, American Society of Cell Biology.

TEACHING ACTIVITIES

–  Course coordinator Clinical Oncology (Bachelor’s phase Biomedical Sciences, Utrecht University)
–  Lecturer Molecular Pathology (Bachelor’s phase Biomedical Sciences, Utrecht University)
–  Lecturer Cell Adhesion in Health and Disease (Bachelor’s phase Leiden University)
–  Course Coordinator and co-organiser ‘Breast and Colon Cancer’
(Graduate school Clinical and Translational Oncology, UMC Utrecht)
–  Lecturer Mouse Transgenic models (Graduate School Regenerative Medicine, UMC Utrecht)

HONORS AND AWARDS

–  NWO-VENI (916.56.135. 2005)
–  NWO-VIDI (016.096.318. 2008)
–  Pink Ribbon Award 2008
–  Vice-Chair/Chair, Gordon Research Conferences (Signaling by Adhesion Receptors), 2022/2024.

–  Number of publications (65)
–  Citations (6481)
–  First author (7)
–  Contributing author (32)
–  Senior author (28)
–  h-index (37)
–  average impact factor (10.7)