Prof. Dr. Jeffrey Beekman has been appointed professor of Cellular Disease Models at the Faculty of Medicine this summer. The chair has been placed at the Children Division, Department of Pediatric Pulmonary Diseases.
The organoid research for CF has shown for the first time that personalized medicine with cultivated mini-organs is possible. Central to Beekman’s research is the idea that living cells of patients in the laboratory can help to determine drug sensitivity and disease severity. In his position as professor of cellular disease models at the Department of Pediatric Pulmonary Diseases, Beekman aims to extend the successes of CF research to new diseases such as primary ciliary dyskinesia. It is necessary to connect basic research with clinical problems and to interact with the business community. Work on CF will focus more on the group with rare forms where the clinical need for treatment is still high.