Marijke Kuijpers

Associate professor

Dr Marijke Kuijpers studied Biological Health Sciences at Maastricht University, after which she could start on a joint PhD project of the Department of Biochemistry and Physiology, studying studied platelet receptors and procoagulant activity in thrombus formation. After obtaining her PhD, she received a Kootstra fellowship, and started on a post-doc project from the Dutch Heart Foundation to investigate the role of platelets and coagulation in thrombus formation on ruptured atherosclerotic plaques.

Since 2011, she has been working as a scientific researcher in the Laboratory on Cell Biochemistry of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, chaired by Prof. Johan Heemskerk, within the Department of Biochemistry. Furthermore, she is connected to the Thrombosis Expertise Center (TEC) from Maastrich UMC+, which main aim is to improve translational research.

The current focus of her research is (hyper)active platelet function under pathologic circumstances: cancer, atherosclerosis, thrombosis, hyperlipidemia (diabetes type 2, Alzheimer). Main research questions are: the full characterisation gain-of-function platelet phenotypes and exploration of the underlying signaling mechanisms. She has a particular interest in the effects of tyrosine kinase inhibitors, often used as anti-cancer treatment, on platelet functions in vitro and in patients. Furthermore, she is part of the EU Horizon2020 TAPAS, investigating whether targeting platelet adhesion receptors can lead to better anti-thrombotic treatment without bleeding.