Menu

Latest news & events

CARIM's Confidential Contact Persons

CARIM's Confidential Contact Persons

27 November 2024

Dr Magdi Nagy (Dept of Biochemistry) and Prof. Peter de Leeuw (Dept of Internal Medicine) have been appointed as CARIM Confidential Contact Persons.

Read more
ZonMw grant on appropriate palliative care

ZonMw grant on appropriate palliative care

27 November 2024

Prof. Marc Hemmelder (Dept of Internal Medicine) and his team received a ZonMw grant to promote early palliative care for dialysis patients who are non-waitlisted for transplantation.

More newsMore events
Carim Maastricht
Carim Maastricht

Erik Biessen

Professor

Prof. Erik Biessen graduated with specialisations in Physical and Bio-Chemistry at Wageningen University. After a series of post-doctoral fellowships at Leiden University, in the labs of Prof. Van Boom (Organic Chemistry; glycolipid synthesis) and Prof. Van Berkel (Biopharmaceutics; drug/gene targeting), he was in 1994, selected as one of 6 post-docs the Molecular Cardiology programme (a competitive 12 year career development track of the Netherlands Heart Foundation. In 2001, he received the NWO innovative research premium incentive (Vidi) and in 2003 the NHS Established Investigator award, to be appointed Professor of Therapeutic Gene Modulation in 2005. In 2007, he moved to Maastricht University to lead the Experimental Vascular Pathology group. Prof Biessen has a part time appointment at the Institute for Molecular Cardiovascular Research, RWTH Aachen.

Erik Biessen’s current passion is to deploy systems medicine approaches, to understand and define critical innate immune pathways in human atherosclerosis and cardiometabolic comorbidities and to validate the relevance of these processes for disease progression by intervention studies in in vitro and in vivo models. Hereto, the group has developed a new high content microscopy based functionomics platform to measure macrophage functional profile at unprecedented resolution and speed and a technology pipeline for spatial mapping of macrophage phenotype and molecular context. Keywords of his research: systems medicine, bioinformatics, multispectral analysis, macrophage biology. Dr Biessen is partner of several H2020-ITN (EvolUtion, INTRICARE, CareSyan), and two Interreg programmes and is coordinator of H2020/ERA-CVD project (AtheroMacHete).

Erik-biessen

Department of Pathology
Verheylaan 10, 6229 HX Maastricht
Room number: 5M01.032
T: +31(0)43 387 46 35

  • 2011
    • de Jager, S. C. A., Bermudez, B., Bot, I., Koenen, R. R., Bot, M., Kavelaars, A., de Waard, V., Heijnen, C. J., Muriana, F. J. G., Weber, C., van Berkel, T. J. C., Kuiper, J., Lee, S.-J., Abia, R., & Biessen, E. A. L. (2011). Growth differentiation factor 15 deficiency protects against atherosclerosis by attenuating CCR2-mediated macrophage chemotaxis. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 208(2), 217-225. https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.20100370
    • Bot, I., Jukema, J. W., Lankhuizen, I. M., van Berkel, T. J. C., & Biessen, E. A. L. (2011). Atorvastatin inhibits plaque development and adventitial neovascularization in ApoE deficient mice independent of plasma cholesterol levels. Atherosclerosis, 214(2), 295-300. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2010.11.008
    • von der Thüsen, J. H., Borensztajn, K. S., Moimas, S., van Heiningen, S. H., Teeling, P., van Berkel, T. J. C., & Biessen, E. A. L. (2011). IGF-1 Has Plaque-Stabilizing Effects in Atherosclerosis by Altering Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Phenotype. American Journal of Pathology, 178(2), 924-934. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajpath.2010.10.007
    • Bot, I., Bot, M., van Heiningen, S. H., van Santbrink, P. J., Lankhuizen, I. M., Hartman, P., Gruener, S., Hilpert, H., van Berkel, T. J. C., Fingerle, J., & Biessen, E. A. L. (2011). Mast cell chymase inhibition reduces atherosclerotic plaque progression and improves plaque stability in ApoE(-/-) mice. Cardiovascular Research, 89(1), 244-252. https://doi.org/10.1093/cvr/cvq260
  • 2010
    • Lievens, D., Zernecke, A., Seijkens, T., Soehnlein, O., Beckers, L., Munnix, I. C. A., Wijnands, E., Goossens, P., van Kruchten, R., Thevissen, L., Boon, L., Flavell, R. A., Noelle, R. J., Gerdes, N., Biessen, E. A., Daemen, M. J. A. P., Heemskerk, J. M., Weber, C., & Lutgens, E. (2010). Platelet CD40L mediates thrombotic and inflammatory processes in atherosclerosis. Blood, 116(20), 4317-4327. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2010-01-261206
    • Bai, L., Gabriels, K., Wijnands, E., Rousch, M., Daemen, M. J. A. P., Tervaert, J. W. C., Biessen, E. A. L., & Heeneman, S. (2010). Low- but not high-dose FK506 treatment confers atheroprotection due to alternative macrophage activation and unaffected cholesterol levels. Thrombosis and Haemostasis, 104(1), 143-150. https://doi.org/10.1160/TH09-07-0502
    • de Waard, V., Bot, I., de Jager, S. C. A., Talib, S., Egashira, K., de Vries, M. R., Quax, P. H. A., Biessen, E. A. L., & van Berkel, T. J. C. (2010). Systemic MCP1/CCR2 blockade and leukocyte specific MCP1/CCR2 inhibition affect aortic aneurysm formation differently. Atherosclerosis, 211(1), 84-89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2010.01.042
    • Verollet, C., Zhang, Y. M., Le Cabec, V., Mazzolini, J., Charriere, G., Labrousse, A., Bouchet, J., Medina, I., Biessen, E., Niedergang, F., Benichou, S., & Maridonneau-Parini, I. (2010). HIV-1 Nef Triggers Macrophage Fusion in a p61Hck-and Protease-Dependent Manner. Journal of Immunology, 184(12), 7030-7039. https://doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.0903345
    • Bot, M., Bot, I., Lopez-Vales, R., van de Lest, C. N. A., Saulnier-Blache, J. S., Helms, J. B., David, S., van Berkel, T. J. C., & Biessen, E. A. L. (2010). Atherosclerotic Lesion Progression Changes Lysophosphatidic Acid Homeostasis to Favor its Accumulation. American Journal of Pathology, 176(6), 3073-3084. https://doi.org/10.2353/ajpath.2010.090009
    • Bonta, P. I., Pols, T. W. H., van Tiel, C. M., Vos, M., Arkenbout, E. K., Rohlena, J., Koch, K. T., de Maat, M. P. M., Tanck, M. W. T., de Winter, R. J., Pannekoek, H., Biessen, E. A. L., Bot, I., & de Vries, C. J. M. (2010). Nuclear Receptor Nurr1 Is Expressed In and Is Associated With Human Restenosis and Inhibits Vascular Lesion Formation In Mice Involving Inhibition of Smooth Muscle Cell Proliferation and Inflammation. Circulation, 121(18), 2023-U135. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.885673
    • Hoekstra, M., van der Lans, C. A. C., Halvorsen, B., Gullestad, L., Kuiper, J., Aukrust, P., van Berkel, T. J. C., & Biessen, E. A. L. (2010). The peripheral blood mononuclear cell microRNA signature of coronary artery disease. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 394(3), 792-797. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbrc.2010.03.075
    • Bai, L., Beckers, L., Wijnands, E., Lutgens, S. P. M., Herias, M. V., Saftig, P., Daemen, M. J. A. P., Cleutjens, K., Lutgens, E., Biessen, E. A. L., & Heeneman, S. (2010). Cathepsin K gene disruption does not affect murine aneurysm formation. Atherosclerosis, 209(1), 96-103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2009.09.001
    • de Kleijn, D. P. V., Moll, F. L., Hellings, W. E., Ozsarlak-Sozer, G., de Bruin, J. P., Doevendans, P. A., Vink, A., Catanzariti, L. M., Schoneveld, A. H., Algra, A., Daemen, M. J. A. P., Biessen, E. A., Jager, W., Zhang, H., de Vries, J.-P. P. M., Falk, E., Lim, S. K., van der Spek, P. J., Sze, S. K., & Pasterkamp, G. (2010). Local Atherosclerotic Plaques Are a Source of Prognostic Biomarkers for Adverse Cardiovascular Events. Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, 30(3), 612-U486. https://doi.org/10.1161/ATVBAHA.109.194944
    • Lutgens, E., Lievens, D., Beckers, L., Wijnands, E., Soehnlein, O., Zernecke, A., Seijkens, T., Engel, D., Cleutjens, J., Keller, A. M., Naik, S. H., Boon, L., Oufella, H. A., Mallat, Z., Ahonen, C. L., Noelle, R. J., de Winther, M. P., Daemen, M. J. A. P., Biessen, E. A., & Weber, C. (2010). Deficient CD40-TRAF6 signaling in leukocytes prevents atherosclerosis by skewing the immune response toward an antiinflammatory profile. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 207(2), 391-404. https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.20091293
    • Bot, I., de Jager, S. C. A., Bot, M., van Heiningen, S. H., de Groot, P., Veldhuizen, R. W., van Berkel, T. J. C., von der Thusen, J. H., & Biessen, E. A. L. (2010). The Neuropeptide Substance P Mediates Adventitial Mast Cell Activation and Induces Intraplaque Hemorrhage in Advanced Atherosclerosis. Circulation Research, 106(1), 89-U145. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.109.204875
Overview