With ischemic stroke, every minute counts. However, many patients do not seek hospital care until it is too late, for example, because symptoms are not immediately recognized or because people wake up with signs of neurological deficits. As a result, a group of patients is no longer eligible for catheter treatment. 

Some processes in our body might seem obvious to us. If you cut your finger, the bleeding will stop shortly and form a scab. Behind that seemingly simple process hides a sophisticated system of platelets and clotting factors. By now, we know that platelets do much more than halt bleeding: they function as information carriers and regulators of disease processes. 

A large-scale study by researchers from Maastricht UMC+ and Amsterdam UMC demonstrates that lower socioeconomic status (SES) of patients admitted to Dutch intensive care units contributes to worse survival.

As of 1 June 2026, Dr Fatma Karapinar has been appointed Professor of Medication Safety at Maastricht University.

Within the framework of the Dr E. Dekker programme of the Dutch Heart Foundation, DrJob Verdonschot, DrMartijn Hoes and DrClaudia Schoenichen, have each been awarded a prestigious research grant.

Dr Hongxing Luo (Dept of Physiology) has received a Veni grant from NWO for his project titled ‘Earthquakes in the heart: Origin of heart sounds and application to heart failure’.

Dr Bob Knapen won 2nd place in the Frederik Philips Prize 2026 and the Audience Award for his innovative stroke research.

Pepijn Saraber (Dept of Biomedical Engineering) has received the Aneurysm-NL Young Talent Research Grant for the project ‘VSMC Biology in Aortic Aneurysm Disease: Embryological Diversity as a Determinant of Dissection and Rupture Risk’

The EmbRACE consortium, coordinated by CARIM, has awarded three fellowships, including two to CARIM researchers.

Tim van de Wiel, Dr Magdalena Harakalova, and Dr Rogier Veltrop (Dept of Biochemistry) have been awarded an NWO grant for large-scale high-performance computing time.