hart_vol

Jan Lindeman

My research focus is on the dynamics of human vascular disease with a strong emphasis on Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms, Atherosclerosis and Ischemia Reperfusion Injury. Using a bedside-bench-bedside approach we aim at elaborating the inflammatory clues involved in the progression and complications, but also in the resolution of these diseases. Our group has its expertise in working on human tissue samples, small proof-of-concept studies with advanced molecular read outs, and phase III clinical trials.

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms (AAA) are characterized by a local dilatation of the terminal aorta segment. Although AAAs are generally clinically silent, AAAs can rupture often causing a fatal bleeding. Currently AAAs constitute the 13th most common cause of death in male. AAAs are generally considered part of the atherosclerotic spectrum of diseases, yet the mechanisms driving AAA formation and progression are still unclear. Although the common notion is that AAAs are driven by a comprehensive localized inflammatory response, work from our group clearly shows that quenching vascular inflammation in humans does not reduce AAA progression, in fact we observed that anti-inflammatory strategies may be potentially harmful. For this reason the research focus is now shifting towards repair mechanisms in AAA

Ischemia reperfusion injury is the paradoxal increase of tissue damage upon re-establishment of blood flow. IR is the inevitable consequence of vascular surgery, transplantation and revascularization procedures. The pathology of IR is complex, poorly understood and there is currently no therapy that has been shown to reduce IR injury. Using kidney transplantation as a clinical and predictable model of IR our group is dedicated towards elaborating the underlying mechanism(s) of IR injury. Previous work excluded all presumed critical factors such as oxygen radical damage, neutrophils, platelets and complement, and the group is now focusing on alternative mechanistic pathways underlying IR injury.

Atherosclerosis. Our group has established a large biobank of vascular tissue that is collected during organ procurement (aorta and coronaries). This material is used to systematically evaluate the processes involved in the initiation, progression and complications of human atherosclerotic diseaseĀ