PhD students
Baran Ogurlu
Baran Ogurlu is an MD/PhD student at the Surgical Research Laboratory, University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands. As a first-year medical student, he joined the research group of Dr. Cyril Moers and Prof. Henri Leuvenink. Since then, he has been involved in multiple pre-clinical research projects. His main interests lie in finding novel renal viability assessment markers by utilizing comprehensive diagnostic tools and creating new insights in ex vivo renal physiology during normothermic machine perfusion. In the PRE-IMAGE project, he will focus on metabolomics analyses during ex vivo kidney perfusion.
Tim Hamelink
Tim Hamelink is an MD/PhD student at the University of Groningen, combining his master’s program with a PhD trajectory within the experimental field of renal transplantation research. He has been involved in several clinical and pre-clinical studies since the early days of his medical studies. His main interest and expertise lie in novel organ preservation techniques and pre-transplant organ assessment strategies. His PhD trajectory is embedded within the PRE-IMAGE collaboration, focusing on combining renal normothermic machine perfusion with MRI.
Carolina Pamplona, MSc
Carolina Pamplona is a PhD candidate at the University Medical Center of Groningen. As well as involved in the PRE-IMAGE project, her research focuses on pre-transplantation assessment of renal function during machine perfusion. Together with her PhD, Carol also works as a clinical ex vivo organ perfusionist for livers, lungs, and kidneys. With a biomedical background and cardiovascular related MSc, her interests lie in bench-to-bedside studies, focusing on cellular, vascular, and whole organ preservation.
Veerle Lantinga, Msc
Veerle Lantinga completed a Master's Molecular Medicine and Innovative Treatment at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. She is now a PhD student at the Surgical Research Laboratory, University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands. Furthermore, she is working as an organ perfusionist in the UMCG, performing clinical ex vivo perfusions of donor lungs, livers and kidneys. During her bachelor’s she was involved in providing the Dutch national logistics of hypothermic machine preservation of donor kidneys, which aroused her interest in this research field. Since then, she has been involved in several (pre-)clinical research projects in organ preservation. Her PhD focusses on understanding ex vivo renal biology through transcriptomics and proteomics.
You Zuo, MD
Dr. You Zuo works as a PhD student at the Surgical Research Laboratory, University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands, through the Chinese Scholarship Council. He did his Bachelor of Clinical Medicine at JiNing Medical University and earned a Master's of Urological Surgery at ShanDong University. He worked as a resident doctor in the Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, China. In the PRE-IMAGE project, he focuses on database development, bioinformatics and the integration of several layers of omics into prediction models.
Johannes Castelein
Johannes Castelein is an experienced engineer with deep knowledge and work experience in diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine, and radiotherapy. He joined the research group of Prof. Rudi Dierckx and Dr. Ronald Borra as a PhD candidate at the University Medical Center of Groningen in 2021. Since then, he has been involved in various ex and in vivo studies investigating new applications of novel MRI techniques. In the PRE-IMAGE project, he focuses on acquiring and analyzing innovative MRI biomarkers during ex vivo kidney perfusion.
Marc Gjern Weiss
Marc Gjern Weiss is a medical doctor at the Department of Urology, Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark and will commence his PhD in the summer of 2023 in the field of renal transplantation. He has been involved in medical research throughout his time as a medical student and has continued his research activities after finishing medical school. His main research focus is porcine animal models in the field of renal transplantation, where he has prior experience from earlier studies.
Cristina Ballester Bergadà
Cristina Ballester Bergadà is an MD/PhD student at Aarhus University, Denmark. After completing the master in Medicine at University of Barcelona, she moved to Denmark to explore her interest in urological surgery and renal transplantation research. She has been involved in multiple pre-clinical research projects regarding kidney viability assessment and treatment during normothermic and hypothermic machine perfusion prior to renal transplantation. Her main interest is in the development of novel therapeutic strategies towards the preconditioning of donor kidneys. In the PRE-IMAGE project, she will focus on carrying out state-of-the-art organ perfusions.