“I studied how tissues adapt or change during processes like wound healing or the development of cancer. I wanted to understand which biological mechanisms are at play. I used several techniques to visualize this: filming living tissues, imaging entire organs in 3D, genetically altering cells, and even analyzing the behavior of individual cells. All with one goal: to understand the bigger picture.”
“As a postdoc, I had the freedom to explore my own interests. I grew intrigued by the tissue structure and the way cells interact and behave within living systems. That’s something I want to expand on with my own group.”
“As a group leader, my focus will be on the bigger picture. I won’t just look at the individual cells anymore, but shift my focus to the way their environment shapes their behavior. Why does a group of cells become a tumor? And why in one place and not another? To answer these questions, we need to connect different layers of biology. That means bringing together fields like cell biology, microscopy, genetics, and data science. My goal is to integrate those fields. One thing that’s special about the Netherlands Cancer Institute is that all of these areas of expertise are housed in the same building. It’s the perfect place to start my group.”
“Cancer unfortunately affects many people. But it’s also like a mirror that reflects how normal biology goes off track. It creates extreme situations that help us better understand how growth, communication between cells, and tissue structure work. By studying cancer, we don’t only generate knowledge about the disease: we learn about life itself.”
“We’ve gathered so much knowledge that the answers are sometimes already there, we just can’t see them clearly. One big challenge is how we can bring all that information together in a meaningful way. That requires collaboration between scientists who can build frameworks to turn data into deeper understanding.”
“Science has always been a global, borderless effort to me, involving people around the world working together. Global developments are making that more difficult right now, even in science. But we have to keep talking, keep collaborating, keep being curious. That’s the only way we can move forward.”
“I hope to work with people who are open-minded, curious, and not afraid to make mistakes. That’s especially important for PhD students. It’s an intense time with a lot to learn. And failure often teaches you the most. You need to be able to see value in the negative results. That takes an open mindset, but it also makes the work much more rewarding.”
“As a kid, I spent a lot of time in nature. That sense of wonder has never left, I still love taking walks, just taking it all in. I also love to paint, and I have a piano at home, although it’s currently gathering more dust than it should.”
“Science and art have a lot in common. In my paintings, I play with perspective, just like I do in my research. Everything is shaped by how we observe it. No scientific result is completely objective; it’s always influenced by who’s interpreting it. That’s why communication is so important. We have to learn to speak each other’s language, even in science.”