Daniëlle van den Broek

PhD Candidate

Nationality: Dutch
Undergraduate Institution: Wageningen University
Email: d.v.d.broek@tue.nl
Phone: +31 40 247 5414
Office: STO 2.43

Sub-group(s):

Biography:

In 2017, I completed my bachelor Molecular Life Sciences at Wageningen University. My bachelor thesis featured antimicrobial peptides as solution to pathogen resistance to existing antibiotics. From there on I have chosen to specialize in biomedical research during the master Molecular Life Sciences. Along the way I have developed a strong affinity with the design, characterization and application of self-assembling biomaterials. I performed my master thesis at the Physical Chemistry and Soft Matter group, guided by dr. Renko de Vries. During this thesis about collagen I investigated how charged amino acids influence the stability of simple triple helices, offering perspective on the bottom-up design of collagen fibrils. Inspired by this thesis I wrote and defended a grant proposal about designed collagen matrices that guide cell behaviour for cartilage tissue engineering. In 2020, this research led me to two internship projects at the Soft Tissue Engineering group at TU/e under supervision of dr. Nicholas Kurniawan, focussing respectively on the migration behaviour of corneal cells, and cell-matrix interactions in engineered vascular grafts. In September 2021 I started my PhD in the group of prof.dr.ir. Ilja Voets at the Institute of Complex Molecular Systems (ICMS) at TU/e.

Research interest:

During my PhD I aim to develop bio-inspired antifreeze proteins for application in cryopreservation of cardiac cells and tissue. To obtain more insight into the biological mechanisms and clinical needs in cryopreservation of the heart, I will collaborate with the Soft Tissue Engineering group at TU/e and the Regenerative Medicine Center at UMC Utrecht.