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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

Sam Heuts

Sam studied medicine at Maastricht University, after which he pursued a PhD at the department of Cardiothoracic Surgery in preoperative planning of surgical procedures.  He gained a special interest in coronary surgery, imaging, and periprocedural myocardial injury. In line of this work, he received a Dekker grant (Dutch Heart Foundation, Clinical Scientist) in 2023.

Sam is the principal investigator of the PRIMARY trial (Dekker grant, Dutch Heart Foundation), evaluating the extent and impact of periprocedural myocardial injury. Also, together with colleagues, he developed a new method for the evaluation of the association between surgical volume and clinical outcomes, and he takes a special interest in Bayesian statistical inference.

Carim sam heuts dscf5393 kopie final

Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery
P. Debeyeplein 25, 6229 HX Maastricht
P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht

  • 2020
    • Kowalewski, M., Raffa, G. M., Zielinski, K., Alanazi, M., Gilbers, M., Heuts, S., Natour, E., Bidar, E., Schreurs, R., Delnoij, T., Driessen, R., Sels, J.-W., van de Poll, M., Roekaerts, P., Meani, P., Maessen, J., Suwalski, P., & Lorusso, R. (2020). The impact of Centre's heart transplant status and volume on in-hospital outcomes following extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for refractory post-cardiotomy cardiogenic shock: a meta-analysis. BMC Cardiovascular disorders, 20(1), Article 10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12872-019-01317-y
  • 2019
    • Heuts, S., al Khoury, F., & Sardari Nia, P. (2019). Lighthearted: Pneumopericardium after mitral valve repair. Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, 158(5), E169-E170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtcvs.2018.08.105
    • Heuts, S., Wind, T. J., Kuiper, M. A., Duijst-Heester, W. L. J. M., & Van Mook, W. N. K. A. (2019). Hoe stelt een arts de dood vast?Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde, 163(41), Article D3999.
    • van der Linden, M., Heuts, S., Veenstra, L., & Lorusso, R. (2019). Intraoperative, open-heart coronary angiography in severe acute aortic valve endocarditis. European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, 56(2), 415-417. https://doi.org/10.1093/ejcts/ezy434
    • Heuts, S., van mook, W. N. K. A., Belgers, E. J., & Lorusso, R. (2019). Iatrogenic cardiac tamponade after laparoscopic hiatal hernia repair requiring emergency sternotomy. European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, 56(1), 215. https://doi.org/10.1093/ejcts/ezy433
    • Matteucci, M., Fina, D., Jiritano, F., Meani, P., Blankesteijn, W. M., Raffa, G. M., Kowaleski, M., Heuts, S., Beghi, C., Maessen, J., & Lorusso, R. (2019). Treatment strategies for post-infarction left ventricular free-wall rupture. European Heart Journal: Acute Cardiovascular Care, 8(4), 379-387. https://doi.org/10.1177/2048872619840876
    • Heuts, S., Olsthoorn, J. R., Hermans, S. M. M., Streukens, S. A. F., Vainer, J., Cheriex, E. C., Segers, P., Maessen, J. G., & Sardari Nia, P. (2019). Multidisciplinary decision-making in mitral valve disease: the mitral valve heart team. Netherlands Heart Journal, 27(4), 176-184. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12471-019-1238-1
    • Lorusso, R., Bidar, E., Natour, E., & Heuts, S. (2019). Minimally invasive management of central ECMO after ascending aortic surgery. Journal of Cardiac Surgery, 34(3), 131-133. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocs.13974
    • Daemen, J. H. T., Heuts, S., Olsthoorn, J. R., Maessen, J. G., & Sardari Nia, P. (2019). Mitral valve modelling and three-dimensional printing for planning and simulation of mitral valve repair. European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, 55(3), 543-551. https://doi.org/10.1093/ejcts/ezy306
    • Olsthoorn, J. R., Heuts, S., Streukens, S. A. F., Hermans, S. M. M., Maessen, J. G., & Sardari Nia, P. (2019). Unexpected prolapse of the anterior leaflet during saline testing in mitral valve repair. European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, 55(3), 552-558. https://doi.org/10.1093/ejcts/ezy317
    • Sardari Nia, P., Olsthoorn, J. R., Heuts, S., & Maessen, J. G. (2019). Interactive 3D Reconstruction of Pulmonary Anatomy for Preoperative Planning, Virtual Simulation, and Intraoperative Guiding in Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Lung Surgery. Innovations: Technology and Techniques in Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, 14(1), 17-26. https://doi.org/10.1177/1556984519826321
    • Heuts, S., Kawczynski, M., Olsthoorn, J. R., & Sardari Nia, P. (2019). Late rupture of transapically beating heart implanted neochords. Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, 157(2), E27-E29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtcvs.2018.07.106
    • Meani, P., Matteucci, M., Jiritano, F., Fina, D., Panzeri, F., Raffa, G. M., Kowalewski, M., Morici, N., Viola, G., Sacco, A., Oliva, F., Alyousif, A., Heuts, S., Gilbers, M., Schreurs, R., Maessen, J., & Lorusso, R. (2019). Long-term survival and major outcomes in post-cardiotomy extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for adult patients in cardiogenic shock. Annals of Cardiothoracic Surgery, 8(1), 116-122. https://doi.org/10.21037/acs.2018.12.04
    • Meani, P., Delnoij, T., Raffa, G. M., Morici, N., Viola, G., Sacco, A., Oliva, F., Heuts, S., Sels, J.-W., Driessen, R., Roekaerts, P., Gilbers, M., Bidar, E., Schreurs, R., Natour, E., Veenstra, L., Kats, S., Maessen, J., & Lorusso, R. (2019). Protracted aortic valve closure during peripheral veno-arterial extracorporeal life support: is intra-aortic balloon pump an effective solution?Perfusion, 34(1), 35-41. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267659118787426
    • Heuts, S., Wind, J., Kuiper, M., & Duijst, W. (2019). Hoe stelt u de dood vast?Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde, 2019(163), Article D3999. https://www.ntvg.nl/artikelen/hoe-stelt-een-arts-de-dood-vast
  • 2018
    • Schreurs, R., Heuts, S., Natour, E., & Lorusso, R. (2018). The unstoppable heart: an aortocoronary fistula in coronary artery bypass grafting. Interactive Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, 27(6), 912-913. https://doi.org/10.1093/icvts/ivy179
    • van der Wall, S. J., Olsthoorn, J. R., Heuts, S., Klautz, R. J. M., Tomsic, A., Jansen, E. K., Vonk, A. B. A., Sardari Nia, P., Klok, F. A., & Huisman, M. V. (2018). Antithrombotic therapy after mitral valve repair: VKA or aspirin?Journal of Thrombosis and Thrombolysis, 46(4), 473-481. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11239-018-1724-0
    • van der Wall, S. J., Olsthoorn, J. R., Heuts, S., Klautz, R. J. M., Tomsic, A., Jansen, E. K., Vonk, A. B. A., Sardari Nia, P., Klok, F. A., & Huisman, M. V. (2018). Correction to: Antithrombotic therapy after mitral valve repair: VKA or aspirin?Journal of Thrombosis and Thrombolysis, 46(4), 482-482. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11239-018-1735-x
    • Adriaans, B. P., Heuts, S., Gerretsen, S., Cheriex, E. C., Vos, R., Natour, E., Maessen, J. G., Sardari Nia, P., Crijns, H. J. G. M., Wildberger, J. E., & Schalla, S. (2018). Aortic elongation part I: the normal aortic ageing process. Heart, 104(21), 1772-1777. https://doi.org/10.1136/heartjnl-2017-312866
    • Heuts, S., Adriaans, B. P., Gerretsen, S., Natour, E., Vos, R., Cheriex, E. C., Crijns, H. J. G. M., Wildberger, J. E., Maessen, J. G., Schalla, S., & Sardari Nia, P. (2018). Aortic elongation part II: the risk of acute type A aortic dissection. Heart, 104(21), 1778-1782. https://doi.org/10.1136/heartjnl-2017-312867
    • Daemen, J. H. T., Heuts, S., Olsthoorn, J. R., Maessen, J., & Sardari Nia, P. (2018). Right minithoracotomy versus median sternotomy for reoperative mitral valve surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, 54(5), 817-825. https://doi.org/10.1093/ejcts/ezy173
    • Heuts, S., Daemen, J. H. T., Streukens, S. A. F., Olsthoorn, J. R., Vainer, J., Cheriex, E. C., Maessen, J. G., & Sardari Nia, P. (2018). Preoperative Planning of Transapical Beating Heart Mitral Valve Repair for Safe Adaptation in Clinical Practice. Innovations: Technology and Techniques in Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, 13(3), 200-206. https://doi.org/10.1097/IMI.0000000000000506
  • 2017
    • Raffa, G. M., Gelsomino, S., Sluijpers, N., Meani, P., Alenizy, K., Natour, E., Bidar, E., Johnson, D. M., Makhoul, M., Heuts, S., Lozekoot, P., Kats, S., Schreurs, R., Delnoij, T., Montalti, A., Sels, J. W., Poll, M. V. D., Roekaerts, P., Maessen, J., & Lorusso, R. (2017). In-hospital outcome of post-cardiotomy extracorporeal life support in adult patients: the 2007-2017 Maastricht experience. Critical Care and Resuscitation, 19(Suppl 1), 53-61. http://cicm.org.au/CICM_Media/CICMSite/CICM-Website/Resources/Publications/CCR%20Journal/Previous%20Editions/October%20Supplement%202017/ccr_19_OctSupp_011017-S53-S61.pdf
    • Meani, P., Gelsomino, S., Natour, E., Johnson, D. M., Rocca, H.-P. B. L., Pappalardo, F., Bidar, E., Makhoul, M., Raffa, G., Heuts, S., Lozekoot, P., Kats, S., Sluijpers, N., Schreurs, R., Delnoij, T., Montalti, A., Sels, J. W., van de Poll, M., Roekaerts, P., ... Lorusso, R. (2017). Modalities and Effects of Left Ventricle Unloading on Extracorporeal Life support: a Review of the Current Literature. European journal of heart failure, 19 Suppl 2, 84-91. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejhf.850
    • Sardari Nia, P., Heuts, S., Daemen, J., Luyten, P., Vainer, J., Hoorntje, J., Cheriex, E., & Maessen, J. (2017). Preoperative planning with three-dimensional reconstruction of patient's anatomy, rapid prototyping and simulation for endoscopic mitral valve repair. Interactive Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, 24(2), 163-168. https://doi.org/10.1093/icvts/ivw308
  • 2016
    • Heuts, S., Maessen, J. G., & Sardari Nia, P. (2016). Preoperative planning of left-sided valve surgery with 3D computed tomography reconstruction models: sternotomy or a minimally invasive approach?Interactive Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, 22(5), 587-593. https://doi.org/10.1093/icvts/ivv408
    • Heuts, S., Sardari Nia, P., & Maessen, J. G. (2016). Preoperative planning of thoracic surgery with use of three-dimensional reconstruction, rapid prototyping, simulation and virtual navigation. Journal of visualized surgery, 2, Article 77. https://doi.org/10.21037/jovs.2016.03.10
  • 2015
    • Bentala, M., Heuts, S., Vos, R., Maessen, J., Scohy, T. V., Gerritse, B. M., & Sardari Nia, P. (2015). Comparing the endo-aortic balloon and the external aortic clamp in minimally invasive mitral valve surgery. Interactive Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, 21(3), 359-365. https://doi.org/10.1093/icvts/ivv160
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