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Catheter treatment is not only effective, but also cost-effective for ischemic stroke

Catheter treatment is not only effective, but also cost-effective for ischemic stroke

29 September 2026

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. 

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Platelets: more than a band-aid

Platelets: more than a band-aid

23 September 2026

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. 

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Carim Maastricht
Carim Maastricht

Heidi Noels

Professor

Prof. Heidi Noels is leading the research group 'Molecular cardiovascular and cardio-renal-metabolic research' within the Institute for Molecular Cardiovascular Research (IMCAR) of the University Hospital Aachen. In parallel, she holds an honorary affiliation with the Biochemistry Department of the Cardiovascular Research Institute (CARIM) of Maastricht University, and is cofounder of the 'Aachen-Maastricht Institute for Cardiorenal Research (AMICARE)', which characterises the close cooperation between both universities.

Her research group studies pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the development of cardiovascular diseases, including atherosclerosis, cardiomyopathy and myocardial infarction. This includes a strong focus on kidney-heart communication, and by extension kidney-heart-metabolic crosstalk, with a focus on inflammation and metabolic disturbances.

Dr Noels initially obtained her PhD in Medical Sciences in the Medical Faculty of the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, with a focus on the transcription factor NF-kB, a key regulator of inflammation. After her move to IMCAR, her work provided novel insights into the role of inflammation in atherosclerosis through diverse regulatory mechanisms involving NF-kB. New findings also resulted in the characterisation of the role of chemokine receptors and their ligands in regulating inflammatory processes in atherosclerosis and vascular inflammation.

Recent work includes the study of cellular and molecular mediators and mechanisms of kidney-heart crosstalk in cardiorenal and cardio-renal-metabolic disease. This includes the study of vascular inflammation/dysfunction and atherosclerosis as well as ischemic and non-ischemic cardiac remodeling. The aim is to support novel therapies to reduce the cardiovascular and cardio-renal-metabolic burden which highly impacts our society.

Dr Noels is integrated in multiple interdisciplinary and international collaborations. She Furthermore, she is Coordinator of the European Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) Doctoral Network LipidBRIGHT (UM, 2026-2030), Managing Director of the DFG-funded research consortium SFB/TRR219 (RWTH, 2018-2029) and Coordinator of two DFG-funded graduate schools (SFB/TRR219; SFB1739; RWTH). Previously, she was Co-Coordinator of the European (MSCA) Doctoral Network 'CaReSyAn' (2018-2021).

For her research, Dr Noels received the W.H. Hauss Award of the German Atherosclerosis Society (2018) as well as the international Werner Risau Award in Vascular Biology (2015).

Beyond research, Dr Noels is also involved in teaching in the Medical Faculty of RWTH Aachen, where she heads the qualification profile 'Organ crosstalk & comorbidities' for medical students.

Heidi noels

Department of Biochemistry
Universiteitssingel 50, 6229 ER Maastricht
P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht

  • 2020
    • Tilstam, P., Soppert, J., Hemmers, C., Harlacher, E., Doering, Y., van der Vorst, E. P. C., Schulte, C., Alampour-Rajabi, S., Theelen, W., Asare, Y., de Winther, M. P. J., Lawrence, T., Bernhagen, J., Schober, A., Zernecke, A., Jankowski, J., Weber, C., & Noels, H. (2020). Non-activatable mutant of inhibitor of kappa B kinase α (IKKα) exerts vascular site-specific effects on atherosclerosis in Apoe-deficient mice. Atherosclerosis, 292, 23-30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2019.10.023
    • Soppert, J., Lehrke, M., Marx, N., Jankowski, J., & Noels, H. (2020). Lipoproteins and lipids in cardiovascular disease: from mechanistic insights to therapeutic targeting. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 159, 4-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addr.2020.07.019
  • 2019
    • Gajjala, P. R., Bruck, H., Noels, H., Heinze, G., Ceccarelli, F., Kribben, A., Saez-Rodriguez, J., Marx, N., Zidek, W., Jankowski, J., & Jankowski, V. (2019). Novel plasma peptide markers involved in the pathology of CKD identified using mass spectrometric approach. Journal of Molecular Medicine, 97(10), 1451-1463. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00109-019-01823-8
    • Sternkopf, M., Thoroee-Boveleth, S., Beck, T., Oleschko, K., Erlenkoetter, A., Tschulena, U., Steppan, S., Speer, T., Goettsch, C., Jankowski, V., Jankowski, J., Noels, H., & European Uremic Toxin Work Group-EUTox (2019). A Bifunctional Adsorber Particle for the Removal of Hydrophobic Uremic Toxins from Whole Blood of Renal Failure Patients. Toxins, 11(7), Article 389. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins11070389
    • Noels, H., Weber, C., & Koenen, R. R. (2019). Chemokines as Therapeutic Targets in Cardiovascular Disease The Road Behind, The Road Ahead. Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, 39(4), 583-592. https://doi.org/10.1161/ATVBAHA.118.312037
    • van der Vorst, E. P. C., Mandl, M., Mueller, M., Neideck, C., Jansen, Y., Hristov, M., Gencer, S., Peters, L. J. F., Meiler, S., Feld, M., Geiselhoeringer, A.-L., de Jong, R. J., Ohnmacht, C., Noels, H., Soehnlein, O., Drechsler, M., Weber, C., & Doering, Y. (2019). Hematopoietic ChemR23 (Chemerin Receptor 23) Fuels Atherosclerosis by Sustaining an M1 Macrophage-Phenotype and Guidance of Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells to Murine Lesions-Brief Report. Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, 39(4), 685-693. https://doi.org/10.1161/ATVBAHA.119.312386
  • 2018
    • Kork, F., Jankowski, J., Goswami, A., Weis, J., Brook, G., Yamoah, A., Anink, J., Aronica, E., Fritz, S., Huck, C., Schipke, C., Peters, O., Tepel, M., Noels, H., & Jankowski, V. (2018). Golgin A4 in CSF and granulovacuolar degenerations of patients with Alzheimer disease. Neurology, 91(19), E1799-E1808. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000006457
    • Noels, H., Theelen, W., Sternkopf, M., Jankowski, V., Moellmann, J., Kraemer, S., Lehrke, M., Marx, N., Martin, L., Marx, G., Jankowski, J., Goetzenich, A., & Stoppe, C. (2018). Reduced post-operative DPP4 activity associated with worse patient outcome after cardiac surgery. Scientific Reports, 8(1), Article 11820. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-30235-w
    • Schmitz, C., Noels, H., El Bounkari, O., Straussfeld, E., Megens, R. T. A., Sternkopf, M., Alampour-Rajabi, S., Krammer, C., Tilstam, P. V., Gerdes, N., Burger, C., Kapurniotu, A., Bucala, R., Jankowski, J., Weber, C., & Bernhagen, J. (2018). Mif-deficiency favors an atheroprotective autoantibody phenotype in atherosclerosis. Faseb Journal, 32(8), 4428-4443. https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.201800058R
    • Domschke, G., Linden, F., Pawig, L., Hafner, A., Akhavanpoor, M., Reymann, J., Doesch, A. O., Erbel, C., Weber, C., Katus, H. A., Noels, H., Erfle, H., Gleissner, C. A., & Runz, H. (2018). Systematic RNA-interference in primary human monocyte-derived macrophages: A high-throughput platform to study foam cell formation. Scientific Reports, 8(1), Article 10516. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-28790-3
  • 2017
    • Gajjala, P. R., Jankowski, V., Heinze, G., Bilo, G., Zanchetti, A., Noels, H., Liehn, E., Perco, P., Schulz, A., Delles, C., Kork, F., Biessen, E., Narkiewicz, K., Kawecka-Jaszcz, K., Floege, J., Soranna, D., Zidek, W., & Jankowski, J. (2017). Proteomic-Biostatistic Integrated Approach for Finding the Underlying Molecular Determinants of Hypertension in Human Plasma. Hypertension, 70(2), 412-419. https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.116.08906
    • Doring, Y., Noels, H., van der Vorst, E. P. C., Neideck, C., Egea, V., Drechsler, M., Mandl, M., Pawig, L., Jansen, Y., Schroeder, K., Bidzhekov, K., Megens, R. T. A., Theelen, W., Klinkhammer, B. M., Boor, P., Schurgers, L., van Gorp, R., Ries, C., Kusters, P. J. H., ... Weber, C. (2017). Vascular CXCR4 Limits Atherosclerosis by Maintaining Arterial Integrity Evidence From Mouse and Human Studies. Circulation, 136(4), 388-403. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.117.027646
    • Asare, Y., Ommer, M., Azombo, F. A., Alampour-Rajabi, S., Sternkopf, M., Sanati, M., Gijbels, M. J., Schmitz, C., Sinitski, D., Tilstam, P. V., Lue, H., Gessner, A., Lange, D., Schmid, J. A., Weber, C., Dichgans, M., Jankowski, J., Pardi, R., de Winther, M. P. J., ... Bernhagen, J. (2017). Inhibition of atherogenesis by the COP9 signalosome subunit 5 in vivo. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114(13), E2766-E2775. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1618411114
  • 2016
  • 2015
    • Pawig, L., Klasen, C., Weber, C., Bernhagen, J., & Noels, H. (2015). Diversity and inter-connections in the CXCR4 chemokine receptor/ligand family: molecular perspectives. Frontiers in Immunology, 6(AUG), Article 429. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2015.00429
    • Kuijpers, M. J. E., Mattheij, N. J. A., Cipolla, L., van Geffen, J. P., Lawrence, T., Donners, M. M. P. C., Boon, L., Lievens, D., Torti, M., Noels, H., Gerdes, N., Cosemans, J. M. E. M., Lutgens, E., & Heemskerk, J. W. M. (2015). Platelet CD40L Modulates Thrombus Growth Via Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase beta, and Not Via CD40 and I kappa B Kinase alpha. Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, 35(6), 1374-1381. https://doi.org/10.1161/ATVBAHA.114.305127
  • 2014
    • Noels, H., Zhou, B., Tilstam, P. V., Theelen, W., Li, X., Pawig, L., Schmitz, C., Akhtar, S., Simsekyilmaz, S., Shagdarsuren, E., Schober, A., Adams, R. H., Bernhagen, J., Liehn, E. A., Doering, Y., & Weber, C. (2014). Deficiency of Endothelial Cxcr4 Reduces Reendothelialization and Enhances Neointimal Hyperplasia After Vascular Injury in Atherosclerosis-Prone Mice. Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, 34(6), 1209-1220. https://doi.org/10.1161/ATVBAHA.113.302878
    • Schober, A., Nazari-Jahantigh, M., Wei, Y., Bidzhekov, K., Gremse, F., Grommes, J., Megens, R. T. A., Heyll, K., Noels, H., Hristov, M., Wang, S., Kiessling, F., Olson, E. N., & Weber, C. (2014). MicroRNA-126-5p promotes endothelial proliferation and limits atherosclerosis by suppressing Dlk1. Nature Medicine, 20(4), 368–376. https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3487
    • Doering, Y., Noels, H., Mandl, M., Kramp, B., Neideck, C., Lievens, D., Drechsler, M., Megens, R. T. A., Tilstam, P. V., Langer, M., Hartwig, H., Theelen, W., Marth, J. D., Sperandio, M., Soehnlein, O., & Weber, C. (2014). Deficiency of the Sialyltransferase St3Gal4 Reduces-Ccl5Mediated Myeloid Cell Recruitment and Arrest. Circulation Research, 114(6), 976-981. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.114.302426
    • Tilstam, P. V., Gijbels, M. J., Habbeddine, M., Cudejko, C., Asare, Y., Theelen, W., Zhou, B., Doering, Y., Drechsler, M., Pawig, L., Simsekyilmaz, S., Koenen, R. R., de Winther, M. P. J., Lawrence, T., Bernhagen, J., Zernecke, A., Weber, C., & Noels, H. (2014). Bone Marrow-Specific Knock-In of a Non-Activatable Ikk alpha Kinase Mutant Influences Haematopoiesis but Not Atherosclerosis in Apoe-Deficient Mice. PLOS ONE, 9(2), Article e87452. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0087452
    • Döring, Y., Pawig, L., Weber, C., & Noels, H. (2014). The CXCL12/CXCR4 chemokine ligand/receptor axis in cardiovascular disease. Frontiers in physiology, 5, 212. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2014.00212
  • 2013
    • Asare, Y., Shagdarsuren, E., Schmid, J. A., Tilstam, P. V., Grommes, J., El Bounkari, O., Schuetz, A. K., Weber, C., de Winther, M. P. J., Noels, H., & Bernhagen, J. (2013). Endothelial CSN5 impairs NF-kappa B activation and Monocyte adhesion to endothelial cells and is highly expressed in human atherosclerotic lesions. Thrombosis and Haemostasis, 110(1), 141-152. https://doi.org/10.1160/TH13-02-0155
  • 2012
    • Nazari-Jahantigh, M., Wei, Y., Noels, H., Akhtar, S., Zhou, Z., Koenen, R. R., Heyll, K., Gremse, F., Kiessling, F., Grommes, J., Weber, C., & Schober, A. (2012). MicroRNA-155 promotes atherosclerosis by repressing Bcl6 in macrophages. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 122(11), 4190-4202. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI61716
    • Doering, Y., Noels, H., & Weber, C. (2012). The Use of High-Throughput Technologies to Investigate Vascular Inflammation and Atherosclerosis. Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, 32(2), 182-195. https://doi.org/10.1161/ATVBAHA.111.232686
  • 2011
    • Weber, C., & Noels, H. (2011). Atherosclerosis: current pathogenesis and therapeutic options. Nature Medicine, 17(11), 1410-1422. https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.2538
Overview