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.