I had the pleasure of visiting PUCRS – Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul this week, where we explored exciting opportunities for collaboration between our institutions.

Our discussions covered possibilities for student exchanges, joint research initiatives, and collaborative training programs, all aimed at strengthening scientific exchange and fostering long-term partnerships. Our first edition of the CRISPR-Cas course, together with Florencia Barbé-Tuana, wen ying wu and Letícya Melo, was a great opportunity to put many of the ideas into practice!

A big thank you to the colleagues at PUCRS, especially Florencia Barbé-Tuana and Lilian Hubner, for the warm welcome and inspiring conversations. I’m looking forward to building bridges that bring our teams even closer together!

Proud to share our latest paper! In this study, we explored how microenvironmental and culture conditions shape the fitness and plasticity of human islets.

Combining ECM enrichment with dynamic free-fall culture enhanced islet resilience, preserved glucose responsiveness, and promoted better stress adaptation.

These insights contribute to optimizing ex vivo maintenance of rare human tissues, such as pancreatic islets, with potential impact on cell-based therapies for type 1 diabetes.

Thank you to Isaura Beatriz Borges Silva, Marluce Mantovani, Minh Luu Danh Anh, Alan Ray Gorter, theo borghuis, Naschla Gasaly, Mari Cleide Sogayar, and Paul de Vos for the great team effort in bringing it to life!! 💪

https://lnkd.in/eukc9me2

The University of Groningen (UG) is strengthening its ties with the scientific community in the State of São Paulo. During a recent visit to FAPESP, the Rector of UG, Jacquelien Scherpen, announced the future opening of a representative office in São Paulo.

Key Highlights for the Scientific Community:

• New Representative Office: The office will facilitate international mobility, assisting researchers and students with bureaucratic procedures and identifying ideal research collaborations.

• FAPESP Week Netherlands: Scheduled for October 2025, this event will bring together Brazilian and Dutch scientists to foster high-level collaboration. Groningen has been confirmed as a host for technical visits.

• Priority Research Areas: The partnership focuses on interdisciplinary schools with an emphasis on Public Health, Sustainability, Climate Change, Digital Society, and Artificial Intelligence.

• Innovation Ecosystem: FAPESP and UG expressed mutual interest in integrating academic research with public policy and startup development, leveraging the Netherlands’ extensive experience in industry-academia partnerships.

This initiative represents a significant step toward optimizing collaborative research between the Netherlands and Brazil, promising new funding opportunities and networking possibilities for laboratories focused on solving complex global challenges.

Last Friday we had the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Dutch Matrix Biology Society, what a great experience with inspiring talks and discussions!

I’m incredibly proud of my PhD student Floris-Jan Haan, who was awarded the A. van den Hooff Award for his contributions during the meeting – well deserved!

It was also a pleasure to reconnect with Minh Luu Danh Anh, who was the first master’s student in our group, and to hear about his exciting new endeavors!

Visit NVMB website for more information: https://matrixbiology.nl/

We are excited to launch a new research project  with Professor Florencia Barbé-Tuana (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil), and Ms Letícya Simone Melo dos Santos (Helmholtz Zentrum München, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany).

The project supported by CNPq is led by Professor Barbé-Tuana and aims to investigate how taurine influences metabolism and could help prevent Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

This multidisciplinary initiative aims to uncover mechanisms that could pave the way for innovative interventions in metabolic health and aging.

Join us at the Annual Meeting of the Dutch Society for Matrix Biology! This is your chance to hear from renowned experts in the field and gain insights into cutting-edge research and developments in matrix biology. Don’t miss this opportunity to share your work and engage with the community. For more details and to submit your abstract, visit: https://www.matrixbiology.nl/meetings Looking forward to seeing you there!