professor and group leader
@wntlab.bsky.social

Renée received her MSc from the Vrije Universiteit (1999, cum laude) and her PhD from the University of Amsterdam (2005, also cum laude). She did her PhD thesis research with Anton Berns at the Netherlands Cancer Institute and was a postdoc with Roel Nusse at Stanford University.
In 2013 she started a tenure track and set up her lab at the UvA. Renée received tenure and was promoted to associate professor in 2017. In 2025 she was appointed as professor of Stem Cell and Cancer Biology (NL: Fundamenteel Stamcel- en Kankeronderzoek). Renée is an NWO VIDI laureate (2014) with more than 25 years of active research experience in Wnt signaling. She is also an elected member of the organizing committee of the European Network for Breast Development and Cancer labs and an editorial board member of the Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia. (complete CV here, last updated 01/2025)

assistant professor

Thijs received his PhD from the Vrije Universiteit (VU university) in Amsterdam, where he worked on teratogenic effects of environmental pollutants on embryonic development. He did his postdoctoral research at Cancer Research UK and the Francis Crick institute in London in the lab of Caroline Hill. Here, he studied how embryonic signalling pathways control early development. As a research associate at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in Richard White’s lab he developed new models for pancreatic cancer. Thijs joined the DSCCB group in February 2021, bringing with him over 15 years experience at the crossroad of developmental and cancer biology.

assistant professor

Caitrín Crudden is a cancer cell biologist, interested in how cells communicate. She obtained an MSc from the University of Manchester (2013), and her PhD from Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm (2018), where she worked on developing new ways to target the insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF-1R) signal axis in different cancers. She moved to the Amsterdam UMC for a first post-doc to investigate the contribution of small packages released from cells called 'extracellular vesicles' to oncogenic signaling, obtaining a Marie Curie Fellowship from the European Commission. Upon receiving a ZonMw Veni Fellowship (2021), she joined the group of Martine Smit at the Vrije Universiteit, to work on chemokine signaling and its role in breast cancer metastasis. In July 2024 she joined the DSCCB group as Assistant Professor, where she will work on improving human breast (cancer) in vitro models (organoids), with which we hope to ultimately enhance the translation of experimental findings to patient care.

technician

After obtaining an MSc degree at Leiden University in Molecular & Cellular Biology, Ingeborg started work as a technician in the lab of Vincent Christoffels at the Amsterdam University Medical Center (Amsterdam UMC) in April 2012. Focussing on development of the heart and cardiac repair after myocardial infarction, she performed molecular and in vivo work. Ingeborg joined the group in October 2020 as a technician, combining lab management support with experimental and technical support for ongoing research projects in the lab.

PhD student

Joëlle completed her BSc in Biology at Utrecht University in 2021. In 2023, she obtained her MSc degree in Biomedical Sciences (Developmental & Therapeutic Biology track) from the University of Amsterdam. During her master, she performed internships at the Reproduction & Development Laboratory at Amsterdam UMC and the Prinses Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology. She started her PhD program in October 2023, focusing on Wnt and Nodal signaling in early embryo development, using mouse gastruloids.

PhD student

Rhanna earned her BSc in Biology from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in 2022. In 2024, she graduated with a MSc in Biomedical Sciences (Molecular Neuroscience track) from the University of Amsterdam. During her bachelor’s and master’s program, she completed internships at the Donders Institute (Radboud UMC, Nijmegen), the Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam) and the Vision Institute (Sorbonne University, Paris). Rhanna joined the lab in July 2024 as a PhD student. She is researching lineage differentiation during early embryonic development using 3D models of embryonal carcinoma cells and embryonic stem cells.

Jasper Zweistra
PhD student

Jointly funded by SILS and AMOLF, Jasper joined the lab in September 2024. He will study single-cell dynamics in mammary gland development, using a combination of organoids and live cell image tracking.

Jeske Strik
PhD student

As part of our NWO-XL collaboration, Jeske spends part of her time with us at the UvA. Under the supervision of Marten Postma, she combines advanced image analysis and computational modeling to build predictive agent based models.

Ashley van Gelderen, MSc internship (UvA Biomedical Sciences)
October 2025 - April 2026
Under the supervision of Joëlle, Ashley will improve our biosensors to measure BMP/NODAL signaling.

Frédérique Maljers, MSc internship (UvA Biomedical Sciences)
October 2025 - February 2026
Under the supervision of Caitr´n, Frédérique will try to set up human milk-derived breast organoid cultures.

Saskia Schellinkhout, MSc internship (UvA Biomedical Sciences)
January 2025 -
Under the supervision of Rhanna, Saskia will further characterize WNT and NODAL signaling in the P19 gastruloid model.

Mayra Mitrani Murat, MSc internship (UvA Biomedical Sciences)
January 2025 -
Under the supervision of Thijs, Mayra will dive into the factors that determine the exit from pluripotency.

other students for 2025-2026 will start in Jan and Feb