Biographical sketch
Marije Bartels (1976) studied Medicine at Utrecht University. After graduation she was trained as a pediatrician at the Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital (WKZ; UMC Utrecht) which she finished in 2008. In 2007 she started her PhD in the Molecular Immunology Lab with Prof. P.J.Coffer. Here she studies the effects of HDAC inhibitors in human hematopoieisis focusing on pediatric myeloid malignancies.
Research area
Epigenetic modifications play an important role in the pathogenesis of myeloid malignancies of which alterations in cellular acetylation profiles have proven to contribute substantially. The clinical use of chromatin modulating drugs, such as histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, has more recently been evaluated in several clinical trials. Nonetheless, little is known concerning the effects of HDAC inhibitors on myelopoiesis or their specific targets in human hematopoietic stem cells. With the use of HDAC inhibitors, this project aims to define the role of acteylation in human myelopoieis in order to find new therapeutic targets in pediatric myeloid malignancies.
Publications
Histone deacetylase inhibition modulates cell fate decisions during myelopoiesis.Bartels, M., Geest, C.R., Bierings, M.B., Buitenhuis, M. and Coffer, P.J. (2010)
Heamtologica, in press