Prof. dr. Pieter Doevendans is professor in cardiology at the Division Heart and Lungs in the UMC Utrecht. Could you introduce yourself? Pieter Doevendans: “In Leiden I studied medicine and in Maastricht I was trained a cardiologist. Next I moved to the UMC Utrecht. Since may 2004 I am full professor in Translational Cardiology and in 2005 I became chairman of the department of Cardiology at the UMC Utrecht. Also I’m chairman of the working group of Cellular Biology of the Heart, part of the European Society of Cardiology.”
What’s your research about?
“I’m interested in cardiovascular disease. Together with the Hubrecht Institute we try and unravel the embryonic development of heart and heart muscle cells. Ultimately we hope this will lead to stem cell therapies for treating cardiovascular disease. Also, we’re working on understanding sudden cardiac death. This may be due to heart muscle defects but also due to failing electrical properties of the heart, which may cause arrhythmias. We have just started a project to identify relatives from sudden cardiac death victims and subsequently screen for cardiac pathology. We expect to identify relatives who may be at risk and can be treated prophylactically.”
What are you proud of? “Our work on cardiac derived stem cells has gained a lot of attention internationally. We have succeeded in growing large numbers of stem cells from adult human hearts into new heart muscle cells. The stem cells are derived from material left over from open-heart operations. The cells grew into fully developed heart muscle cells that contract rhythmically, respond to electrical activity, and react to adrenaline. We just obtained funding to further develop this technology for cardiac repair.”
Why the UMC Utrecht?
“The central geographical location is a very practical advantage of Utrecht. More importantly, in Utrecht you really have many of the best Dutch research groups close together. For example, the Hubrecht Institute, the national Proteomics Institute and the excellent Central Laboratory Animal Institute. Newcomers I always tell you can do anything here you can pull of in the United States. Everything you need is available: the infrastructure, the brains, the facilities. However, you do have to bring the different pieces together yourself. All the music instruments are here, it may however take some effort to have them play harmoniously together.”
Future plans?
“I feel the cooperation between academia and industry will deliver very substantial benefits for patients in the near future. It feels like a new phase in Dutch research. In the BioMedical Materials program, a public-private partnership, we plan to use tissue engineering techniques to treat cardiovascular disorders. I find the negotiations with commercial partners exciting. There’s a lot to sort out, about intellectual property for example, but it’s very rewarding.”