Carlijn Bouten
RESEARCH PROFILE
Carlijn Bouten is professor of Cell-Matrix Interactions in Cardiovascular Regeneration and heads the research group 'Soft Tissue Engineering & Mechanobiology' at the department of Biomedical Engineering. Her research group investigates the interplay between living cells and the mechanobiological cues originating from the extracellular environment under conditions of tissue growth, adaptation, degeneration and regeneration. The group uses 鈥榣iving鈥 model systems at different length scales (cell, cell-matrix, engineered tissue, native tissue) to quantify these aspects, preferably in real-time.
The obtained knowledge is applied in innovative engineering approaches to regenerate living tissues, in particular for the human heart. A prominent example is the development of a synthetic, biodegradable heart valve prosthesis that seduces the body to create a new, living heart valve at the site of implantation. Constantly innovating the field, Bouten currently explores hybrid implantable organs as well as minimally and non-invasive regenerative approaches, and an entirely new concept of remote cardiac tissue engineering.
Prof. Bouten is a devoted advocate of team science and performs her multidisciplinary research in close collaboration with material scientists, life scientists, clinicians, and medtech spin-offs. At Eindhoven University of Technology (黑料福利网), she leads a group of ~40 researchers with diverse career paths and backgrounds to tackle the interdisciplinary challenges of her field. She is also an experienced leader of large (inter)national research consortia, e.g. as the coordinator of the Gravitation programme Materials-Driven Regeneration, co-applicant of the SUMMIT programme 鈥楧RIVE-RM鈥, and the co-PI of national programmes (RegMed-XB鈥檚 Cardiac Moonshot, Kidney Moonshot, and NGF Pilot Factory) and international programmes (e.g., FET-OPEN 鈥楬ybrid Heart鈥, MCSA-ITN 鈥楽TINTS鈥).
The intriguing capacity of living cells to shape and adapt their own environment teaches us how to engineer new tissues for the heart.鈥
Seducing the body to repair itself
Carlijn Bouten leads the Research Center for Materials-Driven Regeneration (MDR). This is a partnership between Eindhoven University of Technology, Maastricht University and Utrecht University, University Medical Center Utrecht and the Hubrecht Institute. This consortium was brought together to advance tissue and organ regeneration approaches with the use of instructive biomaterials. The interdisciplinary team of researchers within the MDR consortium aims to focus on the research and development of new, intelligent materials that stimulate the regeneration of damaged or diseased tissues and organs.
ACADEMIC BACKGROUND
Carlijn Bouten was trained in functional anatomy and biomechanics as well as muscle physiology at the department of Human Movement Sciences of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where she received her MSc degree in 1991. In 1995, she obtained her PhD degree from Eindhoven University of Technology (黑料福利网, the Netherlands). She performed postdoctoral research at the Universit茅 Laval (Quebec), University of London, and at 黑料福利网. In 1998, she was appointed assistant professor in Cellular Biomechanics in the department of Mechanical Engineering at 黑料福利网, and in 2002 she became associate professor of Tissue Engineering in the department of Biomedical Engineering at the same university. In 2010, Carlijn Bouten was appointed full professor of Cell-Matrix Interaction in Cardiovascular Regeneration at 黑料福利网. She is a recipient of the Aspasia Career Development award of the Dutch Science Foundation NWO (2002), which awarded her the prestigious VICI grant for established researchers in 2003, only eight years after defending her PhD. From 2005-2010 Bouten was member of The Young Academy of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). Since 2017, she leads the national gravitation program . In that same year she was elected member of the KNAW. In 2022 Bouten received an ERC Advanced grant from the Eurpean Research Council for her research on restoring cardiac tissue organization.
Prof. Bouten is internationally recognised for her contributions to the fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. She is an elected member of AcademiaNet for Outstanding Female Scientists and Scholars in Europe, a member of the World Council of Biomechanics, and a founding fellow of the European Alliance for Medical and Biological Engineering and Science. She also serves on professional organisations and boards, including the board of the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw), the Programme Committee International (NWO), the Council for Medical Sciences (KNAW), the board of directors of the International Society of Applied Cardiovascular Biology, and the board of the global Heart Valve Society. Bouten sits on the editorial boards of Trends in Biotechnology and Current Opinion Biomedical Engineering, and advises international institutes and selection committees. She (co)authored over 300 publications on ISI journals and 16 book chapters on biomedical and tissue engineering.
Recent Publications
Current Educational Activities
Ancillary Activities
- Bezit aandelen als lid van STAK, Xeltis AG (spin-off van de 黑料福利网)
- Section Chair Regenerative Medicine, Current Opinion in Biomedical Engineering
- Advisory Editorial Board Member, Trends in Biotechnology
- lid, KHMW
- lid, KNAW
- Member Strategic Advisory Board, RegMed-XB
- vice president, International Heart Valve Society
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board, Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), Barcelona
- board member, Stichting BioTis
- lid, Raad voor Medsische Wetenschappen, KNAW
- Lid Programma Commissie Internatinaal (PC-I), namens ZonMW, NWO