Inge R. Holtman

Assistant Professor - Rosalind Franklin Junior Group Leader

In 2020, Dr. Holtman successfully pursued a Rosalind Franklin Fellowship that enabled her to become a junior group leader in the section of Molecular Neurobiology. Here she continues to study the effect of natural genetic variation on susceptibility to brain diseases. In collaboration with the Netherlands Brain Bank, she established the Netherlands Neurogenomics Database, which is supported by the ‘Stichting Vrienden van het Herseninstituut’. The aim of this project is to integrate the extensive clinical and neuropathological data of the NHB, with a multi-omics map in order to study the effects of genetic variation on brain disease using state-of-the-art computational and machine learning approaches.

Alejandro Marmolejo Garza

Postdoctoral Fellow

I am a Medical Doctor with a masters in Medical and Pharmaceutical Drug Innovation with specialization in metabolism. My PhD research focused on investigating mitochondrial involvement in Alzheimer's Disease by employing in vitro models such as iPSC-derived brain organoids and microglia-like cells as well as patient- and mouse model-derived tissue. As a postdoctoral fellow, I am focusing on developing brain organoid models that recapitulate psychiatric disease to continue learning about the neurobiology of disease.

Ekaterina Dagkesamanskaia

PHD-student

My research is focused on the deciphering the heterogeneity of brain disorders via bioinformatics. In our laboratory, we utilize a cross-disciplinary approach to examine neuropathology, clinical summaries, and genetic information. Our research is dedicated to enhancing our understanding of brain disorders, linking clinical presentations to their underlying biological mechanisms.

Nienke Mekkes

PHD-student

The aim of my project is to come to a better understanding of the multitude of brain disorders. To achieve this aim, we develop a cross-diagnostic approach where we integrate the extensive clinical and neuropathological data of the NHB together with multi-omics data using state-of-the-art computational and machine learning approaches.

Tommaso Fortunato Asquini

PHD-student

My project focuses on neurobiological alterations in psychiatric disorders. We integrate multi-omic technologies to dissect the biological complexity of this class of diseases. We hope that this holistic approach will help to identify some of the molecular mechanisms underlying differences and similarities across multiple psychiatric conditions.

Eric Hoekstra

Technician - Bioinformatician

I joined the lab in 2021 for an internship during my bachelor program Bioinformatics at the Hanze University. In 2022, I became a technician. My current role involves building and maintaining the Netherlands Neurogenomics database website as well as setting up a data management structure for our research group. I also implemented computational pipelines to optimize polygenic risk scores for brain disorders.