People in the Lab

Patrick Derksen
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
As a Professor of Experimental and Preclinical Oncology I am fascinated how loss of adhesion triggers cancer progression.
Outside the lab I love culinary extravaganza’s and fast motor cycles.

Lotte Enserink
RESEARCH TECHNICIAN
I work on loss of adhesion and cancer metastasis. For this I’m working with in vitro and in vivo models. Outside the lab I like to cook and bake and try out new recipes but also going out for dinner.

Jorine Sanders
RESEARCH TECHNICIAN
As a technician my work focusses on identifying molecular features of ILC dormancy and recurrence. Together with Thijs I work on the PEARL project. In my spare time I enjoy running, cooking and traveling.

Peter Haughton
PHD CANDIDATE
I am interested in cell-ECM inter-actions and how they control Head & Neck cancer progression in a project sponsored by KWF.
I am PhD student and a keen hockey player, enjoy cinema going and exploring the world.

Max Rätze
PHD CANDIDATE
My work is centred around finding new tumor suppressors for ILC development and delineating how Kaiso controls transcriptional activity in cancer.
Who needs a hobby when
you’re doing science?

Thijmen Sijnesael
PHD CANDIDATE
I focus on Lobular Breast cancer progression and treatment. Sponsored by Breast Cancer Now, I develop targeted interventions using ILC mouse models. Besides science I enjoy watching and playing football.

Lorenza Casasanta
MSC UNDERGRADUATE
I am a MSc student doing an internship in the DerksenLab. Supervised by Peter, I study the non-receptor tyrosine kinase FER and its oncogenic roles in basal-type carcinomas such as TNBC and HNSCC.
Departmental Support

Sven van Kempen
RESEARCH TECHNICIAN
Sven is a departmental Technician who supports all research including that of the research lab. This includes multiple histological techniques.

Kevin van der Graaf
RESEARCH TECHNICIAN
Kevin is supports all types of research in our department. This includes project and imaging support, data analysis and histological techniques.
LAB ALUMNI:
Thijs Koorman
Assistant Professor
Biomedical Bachelor Hub
UMC Utrecht
Eline ter Steege
Project Manager R&D
GenDx
Utrecht, The Netherlands
Sandra de Oliveira Tavares (website)
Principal Investigator
Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of Porto (Ipatimub)
Karin Jansen
Strategy Analyst
Info Support International Group
Milou Tenhagen
Senior Analyst
Zilveren Kruis Achmea
Robert van de Ven
Senior Scientist
Cyteir Therapeutics
Cambridge, MA, USA
Jolien de Groot
Clinical Assessor
College Beoordeling Geneesmiddelen
Iordanka Ivanova
Scientific Evaluator, Therapeutic Products Directorate
Health Canada | Santé Canada
Çigdem Ercan
Regulatory Affairs Associate Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics
Eva Vlug
ICT Consultant at WinVision
Ron Schackmann
Senior Scientist
GenMab
FORMER Labmembers:
Wisse Haakma
PhD Student
Dartmouth College
Daan Visser
Research Technician
UMC Utrecht – Maurice lab
Elvira Bakker
Sridevi Jaksani
Loes Doornbos
Research Associate
Scenic Biotech, Utrecht
Lilian SLuimer
PhD student Cell Biology
Akhmanova lab, Utrecht University
Miranda van Amersfoort
Clinical Research Associate
AMC Amsterdam
Amar Devit
Manager Market Research
Data Analytics, Amsterdam
Annelieke Jaspers
Research Technician
VUMC, Amsterdam
Rhandy Eman
Customer Engagement Effectiveness Manager, Novartis NL
FORMER Undergraduates:
Floor Elbers
Dewy van Lexmond
Annick Nouwens
Garik Galustjan
Judith oude Nijhuis
Lester Lardenoije
Mark de Korte
Lisa Sackmann
Mara Bouwman
Christa Rohof
Nikki Kolsters
Celine Overbeeke
Kirsten Veldmaat
Gabriele Sakalauskaite
Manuel Saornil
Lilian Sluimer
Madita Reimer
Tanja Eisemann
Max Rätze
Sander Boogaard
Jos Koopman
Audrey Sporrij
Maria Boumpoutsari
Tamara Kubbenga
Suzanne Stelloo
Gerdien van den Heuvel
Francisca Peixoto
Mijanou Niklaas
Maartje Pustjens
Judith Haarhuis