Team
Pieterjan Dierickx
Independent Research Group Leader
MPI-HLR and Cardiopulmonary Institute
Dr. Dierickx obtained his Master’s degree from Ghent University (Belgium) and completed his PhD in the groups of Prof. Dr. Niels Geijsen and Linda van Laake at the Hubrecht Institute (The Netherlands), where he developed stem-cell based models to study development of the circadian clock during directed cardiomyocyte differentiation. In 2017 he joined the lab of Prof. Dr. Mitchell Lazar at UPenn (US) as a Postdoctoral researcher to study the role of the circadian nuclear receptors REV-ERBα/β in the heart. Dr. Pieterjan Dierickx joined the Max Planck for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim as an independent research group leader in May, 2022 where his lab is focused on the role of circadian rhythms in cardiometabolism.
Margaux Lecacheur | PostDoc
Margaux obtained her PhD at the Université Côte d’Azur in Nice in Cellular and Molecular Interactions. In this lab, she studied how the biophysical properties of the microenvironment increase resistance mechanisms to targeted therapies in melanoma, under the supervision of Dr. Sophie Tartare-Deckert. In the Dierickx lab, she will use her expertise in microscopy and cell interactions to understand how the circadian clock plays a role in different cardiac cell types contributing to heart function. Outside of the lab, she enjoys reading books, hiking and traveling to discover different places.
Zhaoyu Du | Postdoc
Zhaoyu is currently finishing up his PhD research at the Erasmus University Medical Center, where he has been studying the differentiation of human iPSCs to kidney organoids in Dr. Martin Hoogduijn’s lab. To explore the applications of iPSC-derived organoids in disease modeling and regenerative therapy, he investigated kidney structures of organoids and their physiological functions. In the Dierickx lab, he will be focusing on developing cardiac organoid models using pluripotent stem cells. Specifically, he will be studying the role of circadian clock proteins in pluripotent stem cells and during cardiac tissue development. Outside of his academic life, he enjoys experimenting with various cuisines from all around the world.
Bryce Carpenter | PhD student
Bryce studied at the University of Pennsylvania for a B.A. in Cellular and Molecular Biology. While there, he worked as a research assistant in the lab of Dr. Mitchell Lazar in the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism, starting off his interest in circadian rhythms and metabolism research. Unrelatedly but simultaneously, he discovered a love for Lindy Hop, food from around the world, and social story games.
Kai Cui | PhD student
Kai studied the genomics and evolution of endangered animals for her master’s degree in bioinformatics at Sichuan University. She started enjoying cardiovascular research when she was working on GWAS and single cell analyses at UMCU in the Netherlands. She is curious about everything around her. She loves to travel and adventure. After obtaining her Scuba Diving license she is now learning to solo skydive and in the future she would like to learn to fly light aircraft.
Yannick Mangold | Technical assistant
Yannick just finished his apprenticeship at the university clinic in Homburg and will start working his first full time job as a TA in the Dierickx group. He is also studying at the university of applied sciences Kaiserslautern and wants to obtain his B.Sc. After that he is looking into options of continuing his part time studies to get a Master’s degree. When he’s not in the lab Yannick is the singer for a local band in his hometown, collects vinyls of his favourite bands or does lots of different sports like handball or volleyball.
Seval Kübra Korkunç | PhD student
Seval earned her B.Sc. degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics at Üsküdar University. She completed her Master’s degree at Koç University School of Medicine in Immunology. During her M.Sc, she studied the T-regulatory cell and Notch axis in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) inflammation under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Hasan Bayram. In the Dierickx lab, she will focus on disease progression in human metabolic heart failure. She loves photography (unfortunately, her friends’ personal photographer) and is interested in art history.
Yilian Wang | PhD student
Yilian obtained her Master’s degree at the Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. During this time, she learned about myocardial infarction-induced cardiomyocyte pyroptosis and hypertensive neuroinflammation. In the Dierickx’s lab, she will focus on the cardiac circadian clock and the interaction between peripheral organs. Outside the lab, she loves reading books, playing badminton, hiking, and traveling to different places.
Erik Dechant | Bachelor Internship student
Erik is a Bachelor student at the Technical University of Bingen and will be doing an internship in our lab while working on his Bachelor´s degree. In the Dierickx laboratory, he will be working closely together with Margaux in her research on the circadian clock of cardiac cells to understand how the clock contributes to heart function using in vitro microscopy-based models. As a working student Erik works at Abbott GmBH and enjoys spending his free time in nature whenever the weather permits. His hobbies include calisthenics, swimming, traveling and when time allows, painting.
Margo Favier | Master’s student
Margo Favier is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, specializing in Tissue Biology Imaging: Morphogenesis and Repair. Within the team, she will lead a project aimed at utilizing human pluripotent stem cell lines to establish an in vitro model of cardiac aging. Apart from her academic pursuits, she has a keen interest in traveling and cooking.
Alumni
Adwitiya Argha Priyadarshini Boruah | Undergraduate Intern
Adwitiya is currently pursuing her Bachelor’s in Health Informatics at the Technical University of Deggendorf. Simultaneously, she is also studying Software Engineering from 42 school, Wolfsburg. From January 2023, she will start her Master’s program in Applied Neuroscience from King‘s College London. Her future plans are to move in the field of Research and Development. Currently, Adwitiya is an undergraduate intern in the Dierickx Lab and she believes that this is an excellent opportunity for her to learn and develop her computational skills. During her leisure time she loves spending time reading novels and trying her hands on sketching.
Wikie Tew | Bachelor Internship
Wikie is studying for a B.S. in Molecular Biology at University of Sheffield in the UK. Her research interest is at the interface of stem cells, human diseases, and genetics. She wonders how stem cells can be used to aid our understanding in circadian clock and how circadian clock can influence stem cell behaviour. She also finds research on animal behaviour and evolution really really cool. Outside of lab, she enjoys hiking, running, watching wildlife documentaries and reading anything interesting.
Daniëlle Ammerlaan | Master’s student
Daniëlle obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences at Utrecht University and is currently finalizing her Master’s degree in Biology of Disease with a specific focus on cardiovascular research. Her interest in cardiometabolism developed early on when studying the role of ketone bodies as a potential heart failure treatment in rat cardiomyocytes. Outside of the lab, she enjoys drinking tea, practice sports, visiting bars with friends, and one day she aims to run half a marathon. Additionally, in Bad Nauheim she hopes to retrieve an advanced command of the German language.
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