Biographical sketch
Désirée van Haaften – Visser (1985) studied Medicine at the Utrecht University. During her final year she performed an internship in the Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology in collaboration with the Department of Metabolic and Endocrine Diseases at the University Medical Center Utrecht. After graduation she has been working as research-physician and thereafter as medical intern. In 2011 she started her PhD in the Cell Growth and Differentiation Lab with Prof. P.J. Coffer and Dr. R.H.J. Houwen. Here she studies the molecular basis of a newly discovered cause of early-onset colitis.
Research area
Single gene defects have been shown to be important in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with an onset in the first few years of life. Recently a new candidate-gene for early-onset IBD has been identified. So far the function of this gene is unknown. The aim of this PhD project is to clarify the function of this candidate-gene and the role of the gene in the pathogenesis of IBD and other inflammations.