Dr. Marieke Essers
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Marieke Essers studied Medical Biology at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. She then joined the group of Dr. Ir. Boudewijn Burgering at the division of Biomedical Genetics from the University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU) in Utrecht. During her PhD work she focused on the role of FoxO transcription factors in quiescence and stress responses in cells. Upon obtaining her PhD, she then joined the Genetics and Stem Cell Lab of Dr. Andreas Trumpp at the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC) in Lausanne, Switzerland. Supported by an EMBO long-term fellowship she discovered an unexpected but very interesting effect of the cytokine IFNa on quiescent hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Since 2009 Marieke is running her own independent junior group at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the Heidelberg Institute for Stem Cell Technologies and Experimental Medicine (HI-STEM) in Heidelberg. Her group focuses on understanding the link of inflammation and the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) compartment via the effect of the pro-inflammatory cytokines on quiescent HSCs. Investigating the effect of stress-induced pro-inflammatory cytokines on HSCs and their niche will allow us to better understand what the mechanisms are by which HSCs are reassuring the successful restoration of the blood system and how HSCs are protected from pathogenic insults. Marieke Essers is the recipient of the 2017 Chica and Heinz Schaller Research Award.