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Uyên Châu Nguyên wins UM Dissertation Prize 2025

Uyên Châu Nguyên wins UM Dissertation Prize 2025

29 January 2026

During the Dies Natalis of Maastricht University, Uyên Châu Nguyên received the UM Dissertation Prize 2025.

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Global research network launched to study menopause and heart health

Global research network launched to study menopause and heart health

20 January 2026

Ten international health research funders, including the Dutch Heart Foundation, are investing $10 million in a new global research network to improve early prevention of cardiovascular disease in women. The initiative focuses on understanding how menopause affects heart health and how early intervention can reduce risk.

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Carim Maastricht
Carim Maastricht

Aaron Isaacs

Assistant Professor

Dr Aaron Isaacs completed his baccalaureate degree at the University of California, Berkeley in 1994. Afterwards, he spent several years working in the business and university administration sectors before entering the genetics field in a mouse genetics laboratory at Columbia University in New York City. In 2002, he moved to the Netherlands, where he embarked on his PhD studies in genetic epidemiology at Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam. He completed and defended his thesis on the genetics of circulating lipid levels in 2007. His expertise in family- and population based genetic studies led to numerous collaborations with researchers on both the national and international levels, studying a broad array of phenotypes including lipid levels, blood pressure, anthropometric traits, ophthalmologic features and many others. Since 2008, he has focussed extensively on the genetics underlying cardiac electrophysiology. In 2015, Aaron moved to the Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht.

Currently, Aaron is working on a number of projects exploring the role of genomics and transcriptomics in a variety of outcomes, predominantly in the realm of cardiac electrophysiology and arrhythmias. These studies, in both population- and family-based settings, utilize large-scale “-omics” datasets, generated through the use of next generation sequencing (particularly RNA sequencing) and microarray technology, and a broad variety of analytical methods, including linkage, association, and bioinformatics approaches, to determine genes involved in disease pathology, progression, or relevant endophenotypes. The findings from these efforts give insight into disease etiology (and consequences); may identify useful targets for therapeutic intervention or biomarkers; and aid in risk stratification or molecular sub-typing of patients. Aaron closely collaborates with a number of CARIM Principal Investigators, conducting work in projects funded by (among others) the European Union and the Nederlandse Hartstichting (Dutch Heart Foundation) and participates in several large international genetics consortia.

Aaron-isaacs

Department of Physiology
Universiteitssingel 60, 6229 ER Maastricht
P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht
Room number: M1.14
T: +31(0)43 388 18 62

  • 2025
    • Kawczynski, M. J., Gilbers, M. D., Winters, J., Maesen, B., Isaacs, A., Linz, D., Rienstra, M., van Gelder, I., Maessen, J. G., Bidar, E., & Schotten, U. (2025). Right atrial endomysial fibrosis is associated with increased postoperative atrial fibrillation burden during 2.5 years of continuous rhythm monitoring after cardiac surgery including atrial arrhythmia surgery: RACE V Tissue Bank Study. EP Europace, 27(9), Article euaf207. https://doi.org/10.1093/europace/euaf207
    • Habibi, Z., Verhaert, D. V. M., Betz, K., Hermans, B. J. M., Winters, J., Philippens, S. A. M., Chaldoupi, S. M., Maesen, B., Maessen, J. G., Isaacs, A., Westra, S. W., Nijveldt, R., Gillet, L., Wienhues-Thelen, U. H., Koehler, M., Zeemering, S., Vernooy, K., Linz, D., & Schotten, U. (2025). Association of atrial fibrillation burden and clinical profile with blood biomarkers: Results from the ISOLATION Ablation Cohort. Heart Rhythm O2, 6(5), 661-670. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hroo.2025.02.017
    • Smits, K. C., Bressi, E., Rademakers, L. M., Rijks, J. H. J., van Stipdonk, A. M. W., Engels, E. B., Isaacs, A., Hermans, B. J. M., Grieco, D., Luermans, J. G. L. M., Vernooy, K., Prinzen, F. W., & Nguyen, U. C. (2025). Time-dependent repolarization changes following left bundle branch area pacing vs. conventional biventricular pacing in patients with dyssynchronous heart failure. EP Europace, 27(3), Article euaf034. https://doi.org/10.1093/europace/euaf034
    • Gilbers, M. D., Kawczynski, M. J., Bidar, E., Maesen, B., Isaacs, A., Winters, J., Linz, D., Rienstra, M., van Gelder, I., Maessen, J. G., & Schotten, U. (2025). Determinants and impact of postoperative atrial fibrillation burden during 2.5 years of continuous rhythm monitoring after cardiac surgery: Results from the RACE V prospective cohort study. Heart Rhythm, 22(3), 647-660. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrthm.2024.08.014
    • Isaacs, A., Zeemering, S., Winters, J., Batlle, M., Bidar, E., Boukens, B., Casadei, B., Chua, W., Crijns, H. J. G. M., Fabritz, L., Guasch, E., Hatem, S. N., Hermans, B., Kääb, S., Kawczynski, M., Maesen, B., Maessen, J., Mont, L., Sinner, M. F., ... Stoll, M. (2025). Lateral Atrial Expression Patterns Provide Insights into Local Transcription Disequilibrium Contributing to Disease Susceptibility. Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine, 18(1), Article e004594. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCGEN.124.004594
  • 2024
    • Winters, J., Kawczynski, M. J., Gilbers, M. D., Isaacs, A., Zeemering, S., Bidar, E., Maesen, B., Rienstra, M., van Gelder, I., Verheule, S., Maessen, J. G., & Schotten, U. (2024). Circulating BMP10 Levels Associate With Late Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation and Left Atrial Endomysial Fibrosis. JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology, 10(7), 1326-1340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacep.2024.03.003
    • Gilbers, M. D., Kawczynski, M. J., Bidar, E., Maesen, B., Isaacs, A., Winters, J., Linz, D., Rienstra, M., van Gelder, I., Maessen, J. G., & Schotten, U. (2024). Clinical Predictors of Device-Detected Atrial Fibrillation During 2.5 Years After Cardiac Surgery: Prospective RACE V Cohort. JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology, 10(5), 941-955. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacep.2024.01.013
    • Christ, A., Maas, S. L., Jin, H., Lu, C., Legein, B., Wijnands, E., Temmerman, L., Otten, J., Isaacs, A., Zenke, M., Stoll, M., Biessen, E. A. L., & van der Vorst, E. P. C. (2024). In situ lipid-loading activates peripheral dendritic cell subsets characterized by cellular ROS accumulation but compromises their capacity to prime naïve T cells. Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 210, 406-415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2023.11.044
  • 2023
    • Young, W. J., Haessler, J., Benjamins, J. W., Repetto, L., Yao, J., Isaacs, A., Harper, A. R., Ramirez, J., Garnier, S., van Duijvenboden, S., Baldassari, A. R., Concas, M. P., Duong, T. V., Foco, L., Isaksen, J. L., Mei, H., Noordam, R., Nursyifa, C., Richmond, A., ... Et al. (2023). Genetic architecture of spatial electrical biomarkers for cardiac arrhythmia and relationship with cardiovascular disease. Nature Communications, 14(1), Article 1411. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36997-w
    • Winters, J., Isaacs, A., Zeemering, S., Kawczynski, M., Maesen, B., Maessen, J., Bidar, E., Boukens, B., Hermans, B., van Hunnik, A., Casadei, B., Fabritz, L., Chua, W., Sommerfeld, L., Guasch, E., Mont, L., Batlle, M., Hatem, S., Kirchhof, P., ... Schotten, U. (2023). Heart Failure, Female Sex, and Atrial Fibrillation Are the Main Drivers of Human Atrial Cardiomyopathy: Results From the CATCH ME Consortium. Journal of the American Heart Association, 12(22), Article e031220. https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.123.031220
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