Estel works within the UMC Utrecht Regenerative Medicine
program together with Koen Braat. This program has three broad themes: (1) Stem cells, (2) Cardiovascular diseases and (3) Skeletal/connective tissues. Estel is involved in coordinating the isolation and
culture of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) from various sources. Furthermore, she has a central role in the organisation and running of the UMC Utrecht Regenerative Medicine "Stem Cell Lab". Current research is focussed on investigating the effects of source and donor age on human mesenchymal stem cell functionality. This includes determining better definitions of stem cell (sub-)populations as well as improvements in stem cell isolation (CD markers-FACS sorting), cell culture and expansion methodologies.