Medical Biology (research)

The Department of Medical Biology has a national reputation of high standing which has continued to increase and gain more international accreditation, both in Europe and the United States. The department has made major efforts to encompass new themes and angles of approach for research, wishing not to stagnate by too narrow a focus, but expand and encompass new ideas.

The perfect example of this is reflected in the now near worldwide acceptance of the heart developmental ballooning model first put forward by this department to explain the progression of the linear heart tube through looping to a fully septated four chambered adult heart. However, the department doesn't restrict this approach simply to its research, but continues this theme into its student education syllabus which continues to receive very positive feed-back from not only undergraduates enrolled at the UvA, but even qualified surgeons wishing to refresh their surgical anatomy.

In-line with this commitment to advancement, foundations have been laid to pave the way to a future officially accredited Heart Failure Research Center which will integrate both Laboratory and Clinic into a powerful collaborative working unit. At the same time the department, which prides itself on its education curriculum, will continue to provide high quality teaching to ever increasing student numbers.

This department is a member of HeartRepair and CHeartED, european research consortiums. HeartRepair is aiming at investigating the genomics of cardiac development and repair. The mission of CHeartED is to identify genetic and environmental pathways that can be modified with the goal of reducing preventable cardiovascular malformations incidence.

Current Research

  • Aims and Production Cardiac Proteomics and Signalling
  • Cardiac Embryology and reconstructions
  • Cardiac Transcriptional Control
  • Cardiac Muscle cell Formation
  • Genetics of Congenital Cardiac Malformations
  • Functional Aspects of Heart Failure and Arrhythmias
  • Circulation & Oxygenation
  • Physiology and Pathophysiology of the Circulation

Internships

Students who want to do an internship at the department should e-mail a short proposal (max. 250 words) and their résumé (MS-Word or pdf format) to the secretariat: medicalbiology@amc.uva.nl.

The application will be evaluated in the biweekly staff meeting. The student will be contacted on the outcome of the evaluation.