Consortium

The consortium is made up of 20 leading scientists in their field, and their respective PhDs and postdocs contributing to the IMAGINE! project, based at 9 different Dutch institutes.

Together they form an expert team with a diverse and extensive knowledge background including optogenetics, organoid research, cellular dynamics, oncology, DNA-segregation, drug delivery, biosensor development, organic chemistry, engineering of optical microscopes, data visualisation and analysis.

IMAGINE! Group Photo 2023

For the realisation of the project the consortium was awarded a Gravitation grant (“zwaartekracht” in Dutch), funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of the Dutch government via the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) for 10 years (October 2022 – September 2032).

Participating institutes:

Logos of UU, TUD, TU/e, PMC, Hubrecht, UMCU, NKI, LUMC, RUMC

The Executive Board

The executive board, led by Anna Akhmanova, consists of 6 PIs who together manage the project:

Portrait of Anna Akhmanova
Anna Akhmanova (Lead)
a.akhmanova@uu.nl
Utrecht University (Cell Biology)
Portrait of Peter Friedl
Peter Friedl
peter.friedl@radboudumc.nl
Radboudumc, Nijmegen (Oncology)
Portrait of Lukas Kapitein
Lukas Kapitein
l.kapitein@uu.nl
Utrecht University (Biophysics)
Portrait of Geert Kops
Geert Kops
g.kops@hubrecht.eu
Hubrecht Institute, Oncode Institute, Utrecht
Portrait of Madelon Maurice
Madelon Maurice
M.M.Maurice@umcutrecht.nl
UMCU, Utrecht (Cell Biology)
Portrait of Jacco van Rheenen
Jacco van Rheenen
j.v.rheenen@nki.nl
Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam
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Other PIs of the consortium

Portrait of Jeffrey Beekman
Jeffrey Beekman
J.Beekman@umcutrecht.nl
UMCU, Utrecht (Pulmonology)
Training Panel
Portrait of Federica Eduati
Federica Eduati
f.eduati@tue.nl
Eindhoven University of Technology (Biomedical Engineering)
Portrait of Sander van den Heuvel
Sander van den Heuvel
S.J.L.vandenHeuvel@uu.nl
Utrecht University
(Dev. Biology)
Portrait of Roos Masereeuw
Roos Masereeuw
R.Masereeuw@uu.nl
Utrecht University
(Pharmacology)
Portrait of Menno Prins
Menno Prins
m.w.j.prins@tue.nl
Eindhoven University of Technology (Biomedical Engineering)
Portrait of Anne Rios
Anne Rios
A.C.Rios@prinsesmaximacentrum.nl
Princess Máxima Centre, Utrecht
Training Panel
Portrait of Ihor Smal
Ihor Smal
i.v.smal@uu.nl
Utrecht University
(Biophysics)
Carlas Smith
C.S.Smith@tudelft.nl
TU Delft
(Imaging Physics)
Hugo Snippert
h.j.g.snippert-2@prinsesmaximacentrum.nl
Princess Máxima Centre
Portrait of Annemiek van Spriel
Annemiek van Spriel
Annemiek.vanspriel@radboudumc.nl
Radboudumc, Nijmegen (Oncology)
Portrait of Sjoerd Stallinga
Sjoerd Stallinga
S.Stallinga@tudelft.nl
TU Delft
(Imaging Physics)
Martijn Verdoes
m.verdoes1@lumc.nl
LUMC, Leiden
(Chemical Immunology)
Portrait Arthur de Jong
Arthur de Jong
A.M.de.Jong@tue.nl
Eindhoven University of Technology (Biomedical Engineering)
co-supervisor Maud Linssen
Silvia Mihăilă
s.mihaila@uu.nl
Utrecht University (Pharmacology)
co-supervisor Ralph de Groot
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Scientific Advisory Board

Our Scientific Advisory Board is composed of internationally acclaimed scientists in their fields who support us with valuable feedback throughout the project.

Jan Ellenberg

KI & KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
(Imaging Technologies)
Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz
Janelia Research Campus, (VA) USA
(4D Cell Microscopy)
Scott Fraser
USC, (LA) USA
(Imaging Technologies & Quantitative Biology)
Mónica Bettencourt-Dias
GIMM, Portugal
(Tissue Cell Biology)
Prisca Liberali
FMI, Switzerland
(Multicellular Systems and Quantitative Imaging)

Early Career Researchers

PhD students

Maud Linssen
m.d.m.e.linssen@tue.nl
Prins & de Jong Labs, TU/e
Frederique Turlings
f.c.w.turlings@lumc.nl
Verdoes Lab, LUMC
Enya Berrevoets e.s.berrevoets@tudelft.nl
Stallinga Lab, TUD
Alessandro Corsini a.corsini@hubrecht.eu
Kops Lab, Hubrecht
Thijs Makaske
t.b.makaske@uu.nl
Kapitein Lab, UU
Angelique Kenyon angelique.kenyon@radboudumc.nl van Spriel Lab, RUMC
Nefeli Ithakisiou
g.n.ithakisiou-2@umcutrecht.nl Beekman Lab, UMCU
Annemarie Berends
annemarie.berends@radboudumc.nl Friedl Lab, RUMC
Sabine Bosman
s.l.bosman-8@umcutrecht.nl
Maurice Lab, UMCU
Tatum van Maanen
t.v.maanen@nki.nl
van Rheenen Lab, NKI
Ralph de Groot
r.a.degroot@uu.nl
Masereeuw Lab, UU
Danai Kokkinidi
D.Kokkinidi-2@umcutrecht.nl
Maurice Lab, UMCU
Menno van Laarhoven m.t.p.vanlaarhoven@tudelft.nl
Smith Lab, TUD
Vincent Hellebrekers
v.j.w.hellebrekers@uu.nl
Smal Lab, UU
Bi-rong Wang
b.wang6@tue.nl
Eduati lab, TU/e
Niels Pagani
n.a.pagani@uu.nl
Akhmanova lab, UU
Sam de Blank
s.deblank-3@prinsesmaximacentrum.nl
Rios lab, PMC
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Postdocs

Josiah Passmore
j.b.passmore@uu.nl
Kapitein Lab, UU
Joyce Meiring
j.c.m.meiring@uu.nl
Akhmanova Lab, UU
Bas Ponsioen
b.ponsioen-2@prinsesmaximacentrum.nl
Snippert Lab, PMC
Stijn den Daas Stijn.denDaas@radboudumc.nl
Friedl Lab, RUMC
Federico Berto
f.Berto@tudelft.nl
Smith Lab, TUD
João Ramalho
j.m.deamildacostajacobramalho@uu.nl
van den Heuvel, UU
Victor Tiroille
v.tiroille@hubrecht.eu
Kops Lab, Hubrecht
Hans Schoofs
h.schoofs@nki.nl
van Rheenen Lab, NKI

Affiliated members

Bahar Arik
b.arik@umcutrecht.nl
Beekman Lab, UMCU

Emma van Grinsven
e.j.vangrinsven@uu.nl
Akhmanova Lab, UU

Layla Nasr
layla.nasr@radboudumc.nl
Friedl Lab, RUMC

Ben Bouchet
b.p.j.bouchet@uu.nl
Akhmanova Lab, UU

Anne Meetje van Genderen
a.m.vangenderen@uu.nl
Masereeuw Lab, UU

Alfredo Soriano
a.ratessoriano@uu.nl
Kapitein Lab, UU

Daan te Rietmole
d.m.a.terietmole@uu.nl
Smal Lab, UU

Dimitri Kromm
d.kromm@tudelft.nl
Smith Lab, TUD

Albert Serweta
a.k.serweta@uu.nl
Kapitein Lab, UU

Support Team

Janine McCaughey (Jey)
imagine@uu.nl
Coordinator
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Hans Schuurman
Finance Controller
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Alumni and former members

Tijmen Herdink, PhD (2023 – 2024)

Eike Mahlandt, postdoc (2023 – 2024)

Wei Zhao, postdoc (2023 – 2024)

Maaruthy Yelleswarapu, postdoc (2022 – 2025)

Portrait photos by Elly Soltani (PIs portrait photos) and Malina Iwanski and Jey McCaughey.