Team involved

She managed to grow human brain organoids that allow us to investigate how structures of particular brain regions are formed, similar to what happens in the very early stages of a human embryo.

She will manage the interactions with the patients/caretakers and the CdLS family organization and help to collect tissue samples.

Mehrnaz Ghazvini and her team from the iPS core facility will derive induced pluripotent stem cells from patient samples, which we need to grow the organoids.

Together, we want to understand how mutations in the NIPBL gene affect the proper development of the human brain. An important aspect is to find out how brain development is affected when only a few cells have the mutation (mosaicism).

Kerstin Wendt and her PhD student Amber Hof will study which genes are affected.

Amber completed her master's degree in Molecular Neuroscience at the University of Amsterdam, where she gained extensive experience researching nerve stem cells in the adult brain.

Debbie van den Berg, her PhD student Marieke Alzeer supported by Anne Korporaal will use imaging  to study the behavior of the cells.

Marieke completed the master's degree in Neuroscience and Cognition at Utrecht University; during her master's, she worked with 3-dimensional organoids to mimic brain development.

Debbie van den Berg, her PhD student Marieke Alzeer supported by Anne Korporaal will use imaging  to study the behavior of the cells.