Members and contact

Diana Pereira Ferandes (2017-2019)

Diana is a PhD candidate in the group of Frank Jacobs (SILS-MNS). She is interested in exploring novel gene-regulatory mechanisms in the Human Brain and their misregulation in disease. To do so, she grows mini-brains in the lab and does computational analysis on evolutionary genomics. 

Gerrald Lodewijk (vice-chair & chair, 2015-2018)

Gerrald is a PhD candidate in the department of Molecular Neuroscience, in the Evolutionary Genomics lab of dr. Frank Jacobs. 

Anoeska van de Moosdijk (chair & communications, 2014-2018)

Anoeska is a PhD candidate in the department of Molecular Cytology. She developed tools to study Wnt-responsive stem cells, especially in the mammary gland. She is currently management assistent at SILS. 

Edward de Koning ( 2015-2018 )

Edward is a PhD candidate in the Bacterial Cell Biology & Physiology group of Prof. Leendert Hamoen.

Till Bey (minuteman, 2015-2017)

Was a PhD candidate in the group Plant Development and (Epi)genetics of Ronald Koes. Under supervision of Paul Fransz he investigated the relation between nuclear organisation and flower development in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. 

Ruud Korver (Webmaster, 2016 - 2017 )

Ruud was a PhD candidate in the group of Plant Cell Biology. His research focuses on the mechanism behind the directional growth changes in the plant root upon encountering salt.

Marc Galland (seminars, 2014-2016)

Marc was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Plant Physiology at the SILS (group of Dr. Petra Bleeker). He is trying to improve insect resistance of cultivated tomatoes by introducing genes from wild tomato species. 

Christian Linke (webmaster, 2014-2016)

Christian was a postdoc in the Synthetic Systems Biology and Nuclear Organisation group. His major research  focus here was to unravel the role of forkhead transcription factors in the regulation of cell cycle in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Paula van Kleeff (Events, 2014-2016)

Ricardo Paap (vice-chairman & events, 2012-2015)

Ricardo was a PhD student in the Molecular Neuroscience group of Prof. Marten Smidt. His extraordinary skills in organizing events were greatly appreciated.

Ada Anna Dattoli (Communication & Events, 2012-2014)

Ada was a PhD candidate in Molecular Cytology. Her research used the small translucent sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis to investigate the role of these genes in an evolutionary framework.

Sacha Stelder (Secretary & Events, 2012-2014)

Sacha was combining the fields of two research groups within SILS by studying members of the pathogenic food-spoilage bacteria of the Bacillus cereus group on a proteome level.

S. Andreas Angermayr (vice-Chairman & Webmaster, 2013-2014)

Andreas was investigating metabolic engineering principles in cyanobacteria towards direct CO₂ based bulk chemical (and biofuel) production via photosynthesis. He was a PhD student in the Molecular Microbial Physiology group of Klaas Hellingwerf.

Sofia Kanatsou (chairman, communications & SILS-seminars, 2012-2014)

Sofia was a PhD student in the department of neuroscience and pharmacology at the university of Utrecht as well as in the department of cellular plasticity of the nervous system at the University of Amsterdam. Her doctoral research is focused on elucidating the effects of stress hormones on the brain.

Oskar Bruning-Gawehns (vice-Chairman, SILS-seminars & Webmaster, 2010-2013)

Oskar worked at the MicroArray Department (MAD) of SILS. His PhD work focused on finding ways to optimize  the whole pipe-line in (transcript-)omics experimentation using the role of p53 in the mechanistic response to UV radiation as a biological use case. Furthermore, he also functioned as Manager Service Unit and support bioinformatician.

Alex Ter Beek (SILS-seminars, Webmaster, 2010-2013 )

Alex was doing his second postdoc in the Molecular Biology and Microbial Food Safety (MBMFS) group. He tried to better understand the molecular mechanisms that are important for germination & outgrowth of spores under (mild) stress conditions. With this insight it is possible to identify new targets that help to prevent the germination & outgrowth of food-spoilage Bacilli in food-products using milder preservation techniques.

Reuben Smith (Inter-council liason & Communication, 2012-2013 )

As a PhD candidate in the group Molecular Biology and Microbial Food Safety (MBMFS) Reuben studied stress and toxicity induction by therapeutic drugs. 

Marijn Schouten (Events, 2011-2013)

Marijn was a PhD student in the group of Prof.Dr. Paul J. Lucassen under the supervision of Dr. Carlos P. Fitzsimons at the Center for Neuroscience, University of Amsterdam. His PhD project is entitled: Glucocorticoids and molecular control of adult hippocampal neurogenesis.

Dorota Kawa (events, 2013-2014 )

Dorota was a PhD student in the Plant Physiology group.

Philipp E. Savakis (secretary & events, 2013-2014)

Philipp was a PhD student in the Molecular Microbial Physiology group of Prof. Klaas Hellingwerf. His research topic is: The ‘Photanol approach’: using cyanobacteria to produce butanol.

Iris Hövel (Inter-council liason & Communication, 2012-2014)

Iris was a PhD student in the Synthetic Systems Biology and Nuclear Organization Group (SSB-NOG) of Hans Westerhoff. Under supervision of Maike Stam and Paul Fransz she investigated genome organization in the model plants Thales cress and maize. 

Clemens J. Heilmann (Chairman & Communication, 2010-2012 )

Clemens worked on his PhD thesis in the Mass Spectrometry (MS) Group and the Molecular Biology and Microbial Food Safety (MBMFS) Group of SILS. He investigated the wall proteome of the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans and hoped to identify new targets for vaccines and antifungals as well as new diagnostic markers.

Fleur Gawehns-Bruning (Communication & Events, 2010-2012 )

Fleur worked as a PhD-student in the Plant-Pathogen Interactions group of SILS. Here she tried to unravel the role effectors play in facilitating the infection of tomato plants through their roots by the soil-dwelling fungus Fusarium oxysporum.

Jeroen B. van der Steen (vice-Chairman & Secretary, 2010-2012)

Jeroen was a PhD student in the Molecular Microbial Physiology (MMP) group. He worked on several aspects of the general stress response (GSR) in the common soil-bacterium Bacillus subtilis.

Femke S. den Boon (Communication & Events, 2010-2011)

Femke worked in the Center for NeuroScience (CNS) Group of SILS. For her PhD she looked with electrophysiological tools into the role that endocannabinoids play in synaptic transmission with a particular focus on the prefrontal cortex.

Michael Marlatt (treasurer & events, 2010-2011 )

Michael as a PhD student worked on neurobiology and neuropathology in the Center for Neuroscience. His work focused on developing preventative and therapeutic strategies for treating Alzheimer disease.

Martijn Bekker (SILS-seminars & Events, 2010-2011)

Martijn worked in the Molecular Microbial Physiology Group of SILS. He investigated the physiology of catabolism in Lactococcus lactis, Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae.