Head of section & PI
Dr. Henne Holstege
Associate Professor, Head of section: Genomics of Neurodegenerative Diseases and Aging, the Department of Human Genetics.
PI 100-plus Study
Henne Holstege majored in biochemistry at the University of Leiden, The Netherlands. During her studies, she spent a year at Harvard University in Boston, where she investigated the molecular mechanisms of satiety. She did her PhD at the Netherlands Cancer Institute where she studied the somatic genetic aberrations associated with the development of breast cancer. After her PhD she applied her knowledge of molecular genetics to study the genetic factors underlying the increased risk of cognitive decline, but also those that increase the chance to maintain high levels of cognitive function while achieving extreme ages.
Currently, Henne Holstege is an associate professor at the department of Human Genetics of the Amsterdam University Medical Center where she runs an independent research section: Genomics of Neurodegenerative Diseases and Aging. She is a staff-member of the Amsterdam Alzheimer Center and she is affiliated with the Delft Bioinformatics Lab of Technical University Delft.
Senior Researchers
Dr. Sven van der Lee
Research into missing hereditary factors.
Collaborating with EADB consortium (Alzheimer Disease Biobank).
Dr. Sven van der Lee is a medical researcher at the Alzheimer Center in Amsterdam. After becoming a doctor at the LUMC in Leiden, he did his PhD at the ErasmusMC in Rotterdam. With his PhD research, he contributed to the discovery of several hereditary factors that influence the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. He now is continuing this research at the Alzheimer Center in Amsterdam and the Department of Human Genetics. Additionaly, he is trying to apply the findings from genetic research to improve the diagnosis of dementia in daily practice.
Sponsored by Memorabel ZonMw.
Dr. ir. Marc Hulsman
Bioinformatician, faculty member of Department of Human Genetics.
Collaborating with ADES (Alzheimer’s Disease European Sequencing Consortium).
Marc is motivated by the data science challenges that are often encountered in our research projects. Also, he is interested in revealing and understanding the genetic factors that affect cognitive decline with ageing. He studied computer science at the Technical University of Delft, and majored in bioinformatics. After that, he went on to do a PhD at the Delft Bioinformatics Lab, studying methodologies to normalize and integrate disparate types of data, to allow the extraction of new knowledge. During this time, he developed an expertise in statistics, machine learning, database normalization techniques and database design. After a post-doc in which he studied cellular connectivity in fungi, he joined the 100-plus study early in 2014 as senior researcher at the Department of Human Genetics. Currently, his focus is on the rare variants in Alzheimer’s disease. To this end, he analyses genetic data from a large number of international partners (ADES consortium) at the Dutch national supercomputer, to reveal new genes that play a role in Alzheimer’s disease.
Research Assistants
Myke van der Hoorn
Practical team member
After graduating from the bachelor Nursing, Myke worked as a nurse at the orthopedic and neurosurgical unit in OLVG in Amsterdam. During her work as a nurse, she studied the master Health Sciences at VU University because of her interest in research. At the VUmc, she will become part of the practical team of the 100-plus study as a research assistant and she is very excited to meet the centenarians and to hear all their experiences. In her spare time she likes to play football and meet up with friends in the city.
m.h.vanderhoorn@amsterdamumc.nl
Dominique Daatselaar
Practical team member
Dominique has finished her master’s in Neurosciences at VU Amsterdam in 2023. After finishing her internship at the VUmc during which she especially enjoyed meeting patients, she has now joined the practical team of the 100-plus study as a research assistant. She is excited about working with centenarians and hearing about their life experiences. She looks forward to contributing to the 100-plus study and hopes that the insights gained through this study will help in the prevention or treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. In her spare time, she likes to go for a run, paint and spend time in nature.
d.a.h.daatselaar@amsterdamumc.nl
Anne van der Tuin
Practical team member
After completing a double Master’s in Health Sciences and Environment and Resource Management at VU Amsterdam, Anne is excited to contribute to data collection for the unique 100-plus study in the role of research assistant. The question of how centenarians can reach such an old age without signs of diseases like Alzheimer’s truly triggers her attention, as she has a strong interest in lifestyle-related health questions. She is looking forward to meeting the 100-plus-year-old participants and is eager to contribute to the organizational aspects of the project.
a.l.a.vandertuin@amsterdamumc.nl
Sofie Dupree
Practical team member
Sofie completed her Master’s in Neuropsychology at the University of Amsterdam. During her studies, she developed a strong interest in diagnosing dementia, and became increasingly curious about why some individuals seem to have protective factors against the disease while others do not. Sofie is eager to meet and assess healthy centenarians and to contribute to the data collection for the 100-plus study.
s.m.dupree@amsterdamumc.nl
Lotte Bijker
Practical team member
Lotte Bijker is a research assistant at the 100-plus study. She obtained both her Bachelor’s Degree in Biomedical Sciences and her Master’s Degree in Neuroscience at Vrije Universteit Amsterdam. During her final Master’s internship at the 100-plus study in 2023, she investigated different microglia phenotypes and their effect on AD pahtology and cognition in the centenarians. Now, as a research assistant, she is involved in several projects, contributing to and coordinating the practical aspects of the research. She can be found in the lab regularly, while also managing the logisitics surrounding the biological materials. Through this work, she helps ensure that as much valuable data as possible can be obtained from the research.
l.j.bijker@amsterdamumc.nl
Postdocs
Alex Salazar
Comparison of long read sequences from Alzheimer's disease patients and cognitively healthy centenarians.
Collaborating with Prof. Dr. Ir. M.J.T. (Marcel) Reinders at the Delft Bioinformatics Lab at the Technical University Delft and PacBio.
Alex is interested in understanding how structural variation influences human neurodegenerative diseases. He previously worked at TU Delft as a PhD student using long-read sequencing technology to characterize the genomes of industrial yeast strains. Afterwards, he moved to Copenhagen, Denmark, and joined a start-up company, SNIPR BIOME, as a Bioinformatic Scientist aiming to develop CRISPR-based technology to modulate human microbiomes. Given his strong background in microbial genomics, he hopes to one day incorporate microbiome data to better understand how both genetics and the human gut influences brain development.
Sponsored by AD-REPEAT (TKI PPP grant), Amsterdam Neuroscience.
Niccoló Tesi
Genetic factors that are associated with becoming a cognitively healthy centenarians in the context of Alzheimer's disease and human longevity.
Collaborating with Prof. Dr. Ir. M.J.T. (Marcel) Reinders at the Delft Bioinformatics Lab at the Technical University Delft and Prof. Dr. W.M. (Wiesje) van der Flier at the Amsterdam Alzheimer Center.
Niccolò was born in Florence, grew in a little village in the beautiful tuscanian countryside before moving, first to Spain, then to the UK, and finally to The Netherlands, increasing his international view without forgetting where he came from, which is still the best place in the world. Nicco is curious and always eager to learn something new. Genetics really fascinates him, it is amazing how a tiny molecule can influence the way we look like, behave, age and react to sicknesses. He is very interested in the tech-world: computer, photography, videography, data analysis and machine learning. And because modern times can be stressful, he likes to escape this busyness by listening to some good-old records or going around with the skateboard.
Sponsored by VUmc Foundation.
Jenna Najar
Research into the biological overlap between neurodegenerative disorders and psychiatric disorders.
Dr. Jenna Najar is a medical doctor and resident in old age psychiatry at Sahlgrenska
University hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden, and a postdoc researcher at the
department of Human Genetics of the Amsterdam University Medical Center,
Genomics of Neurodegenerative Diseases and Aging. During her PhD at Gothenburg
University, Gothenburg, Sweden, Jenna studied several risk factors for
dementia, such as hormonal, genetic, and lifestyle factors. After defending her
PhD in 2021, Jenna started her residency in old age psychiatry and cognitive
disorders, where she got the inspiration to understand more about the
biological overlap between neurodegenerative disorders and psychiatric
disorders. She is motivated to extend the current knowledge on the genetic
predisposition of neurodegenerative disorders and psychiatric disorders by
identifying genetic pleiotropy of the diseases and potential shared disease
mechanisms, which is of great importance for improving patient care,
advancement in patient screening and precision medicine, and development of
therapeutic strategies.
j.najar@amsterdamumc.nl
PhD students
Jetske van der Schaar
Structural variants as genetic drivers of Alzheimer’s disease.
Jetske van der Schaar is a PhD candidate at the Alzheimer Center Amsterdam, where she specializes in medical ethical aspects of personalized medicine for Alzheimer’s disease. Her work primarily focuses on early detection and diagnosis, based on biomarkers or genetic factors. As a member of the Department of Human Genetics, she also studies the impact of testing for familial dementia. With an MSc degree in Cognitive Science, she employs an interdisciplinary and empirical approach to capture the perspectives of affected individuals and their families, in order to develop practical patient-centered ethical guidelines for research and healthcare.
Beyond her academic work, Jetske is a passionate advocate for patient and public involvement in research. She is the author of a book on the personal impact of Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer’s Disease, which was published by Prometheus. Additionally, she hosts a podcast on scientific advancements for a broad audience, to bridge the gap between academia and the general public. As a member of the advisory board for the National Dementia Strategy of the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport, she contributes her expertise to shaping policies that aim to improve the lives of individuals affected by dementia. In her free time, Jetske enjoys running and hiking, sewing her own clothes, and going to the movies.
jetske.vanderschaar@amsterdamumc.nl
Rita Guimarães
Structural variants as genetic drivers of Alzheimer’s disease.
Collaborating with Dr. F.M.J. (Frank) Jacobs at University of Amsterdam. Visit the Frank Jacobs Lab.
Rita is a PhD candidate at the 100-plus Study and the evolutionary neurogenomics lab at the University of Amsterdam. She did her bachelors’ degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology and her masters’ degree in Molecular Genetics and Biomedicine, at the NOVA University of Lisbon, in Portugal. She came to Amsterdam during the masters’ degree for an internship, which allowed her to dive into the previously known as “junk” DNA. This repetitive type of DNA, overlooked for so many years, is now the focus for complex disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease. Rita investigates how the structural variation in repetitive DNA might be associated to an increased risk to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
Sponsored by Alzheimer Nederland
Linda Lorenz
The association between fluid biomarkers and cognition in cognitively healthy centenarians and their family members.
Collaborating with Dr. S. (Sietske) Sikkes and Prof. Dr. Ir. C.E. (Charlotte) Teunissen, Neurochemistry Laboratory at Amsterdam UMC.
Linda Lorenz studied Neuropsychology in Amsterdam and currently is a PhD student with the 100-plus Study. She is part of the practical team, which means she gets to visit the centenarians in their homes and administer a neuropsychological assessment and several questionnaires. The practical team find meeting the centenarians the most fun part of their job. As for the study, besides the cognitive testing, we also ask the participants for a blood donation and if they would be willing to donate their brain to the study after passing away. Linda’s current project entails measuring the association between cognition and fluid biomarkers such as Aβ42, Aβ40, pTau-181, NfL and GFAP in both the blood and cerebrospinal fluid of cognitively healthy centenarians and their family members.
The neuropsychology of centenarians will be put in the context of aging in collaboration with ANDI-NORMS.
Sponsored by BrightFocus Foundation and Memorabel ZonMW.
Susan Rohde
Neuropathology and Functional Characteristics of the Centenarian Brain.
Collaborating with Dr. J.J.M. (Jeroen) Hoozemans, department of pathology of Amsterdam UMC.
Susan obtained her bachelor’s degree in Psychobiology (2018) and master’s degree in Neurobiology (2020) at the University of Amsterdam. In November 2020, Susan has started her PhD project at the 100-plus Study. She will investigate the neuropathological and functional characteristics of the centenarian brain. Susan is especially interested in a rare genetic mutation that is enriched in our cohort of cognitively healthy centenarians. This genetic mutation protects against multiple types of dementia and increases the likelihood to reach extreme ages. We hope to understand how this genetic mutation delays the onset of dementia and alters brain processes. This knowledge may identify promising therapeutic targets for AD.
Sponsored by VUmc Research B.V.
Matthijs de Waal
Identifying and treating SORL1-associated Alzheimer's disease
Collaborating with Prof. Dr. Ir. C.E. (Charlotte) Teunissen, Neurochemistry Laboratory at Amsterdam UMC.
Coming from a biomedical background, Matthijs always had interest in genetic and neurological research. After his Bachelor Biomedical Labresearch at the appplied university of Inholland, he went to the VU University to study Neurosciences. For his master thesis he moved to New York to study common and rare risk variants in Schizophrenia. Matthijs’ search to combine both neuroscience and genetics led him eventually to our lab. He started his PhD project where he will investigate the SORL1-gene in more depth. The challenge is to identify which of the variants of this gene are causative or risk-increasing and which are benign. Hopefully, this knowledge would help both counseling and finding treatment for patients with these variants.
Yaran Zhang
Yaran is from Beijing, China. She did her Bachelor’s degree in Life Science at National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, which also allowed her to work in research groups aboard. During that few years, she found her passion in neuroscience and was involved in several neurological research projects. After finishing her Master’s degree in Bioinformatics at Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, she was thrilled to joined the 100-plus Study as a PhD candidate. She is interested in the genetics behind neurodegenerative diseases and is currently investigating the structural variations in the long-read sequencing data of Alzheimer’s disease patients and centenarians. In addition to science, she also enjoys various forms of arts.
Janna Dijkstra
Identifying hereditary factors of neurodegenerative diseases through family research
Janna Dijkstra is a medical researcher at the Alzheimer Center. She obtained a Master of Science at the Free University (2019) and a Medical Degree at Amsterdam UMC (2022). Her PhD research focuses on hereditary factors of dementia. It continues to fascinate her that the genome, being microscopically small, can play a significant role in developing certain diseases. Through studying the genetic code she will try to better understand rare familial variants of dementia.
j.i.r.dijkstra@amsterdamumc.nl
Daniel Álvarez Sirvent
Dani studied biology at Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and quickly got interested in human genetics and immunogenetics. He moved to Amsterdam in 2018 to study a joint masters degree (UvA and VU) in bioinformatics. Afterwards, he joined GenDx as a software developer and bioinformatician, helping to advance the HLA and transplantation fields. In 2022, he decided to move to a more research focused environment and joined the 100-plus study as a PhD student. He attempts to discover the connections between the good cognitive health of the centenarians and their immunogenetic characteristics, by using long-read sequencing. He wishes that dementia can be cured in the future, applying to treatments all the knowledge obtained by the study. He likes to play football specially when it´s not raining, and when it is, he goes to the movies or enjoys a music gig.
Michelle Smulders
Michelle obtained her bachelor’s degree in Natural and Social Sciences (2019) at the University of Amsterdam, where she learned to look at research from an interdisciplinary perspective, while specialising in one field (neurobiology). Her master’s degree was Pathophysiology and Psychopharmacology (2021), with a major in biomedical data analysis. In 2022, she started as a PhD student at the Alzheimer Center Amsterdam. Michelle is part of the ABOARD project, which aims to develop a personalized diagnosis, prediction and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. Her PhD project focuses on resilience (i.e., protection) against Alzheimer’s disease. She aims to find and characterize people that are very resilient against Alzheimer’s despite the presence of risk factors. We call these people “escapees”, as they “escape” their risk. Michelle’s goal is to understand the mechanisms underlying resilience in escapees, so we can hopefully use these mechanisms as targets for prevention or intervention in the future.
m.n.c.a.smulders@amsterdamumc.nl
Joan Groeneveld
Joan Groeneveld is a medical researcher at the Alzheimer Center Amsterdam. She completed her Master of Science and obtained a Medical Degree in Amsterdam in 2022. Before starting her PhD-trajectory at the Alzheimer Center, she worked as a medical doctor in the Neurology department of a Dutch hospital. Het PhD research focuses on identifying novel genetic risk factors in patients with young onset dementia. Discovering new risk factors and their related genes could provide better insight in the disease, lead to new treatment strategies and improve disease prediction. Additionally, learning more about the genetics of cognitively healthy centenarians will aid her in the search for new genetic risk factors related to dementia.
joan.groeneveld@amsterdamumc.nl
Daphne Nijland
Daphne obtained her bachelor’s degree in Biology (2020) and her master’s degree in Neurosciences (2023) at VU University Amsterdam. During her master’s internships, she focused on social dysfunction in neuropsychiatric disorders and on (non-)modifiable risk factors for dementia prevention in cognitively normal adults. After completing her master’s degree, she worked as a research assistant for the DemenTREE biobank. In 2024, she started her PhD trajectory at the Alzheimer Center and the 100-plus study. Her PhD project focuses on (epi)genetic and modifiable risk factors for dementia. Through several projects, she aims to contribute to the prevention, intervention, and diagnosis of dementia.
d.nijland@amsterdamumc.nl
Gilad Green
Genetic modulators of the cellular progression in brain aging and Alzheimer's disease
Gilad Sahar Green obtained both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Computer Science and Computational Biology from the University of Jerusalem, Israel. During his studies, he taught machine learning and co-authored the book Introduction to Machine Learning. His research, conducted in Dr. Naomi Habib’s lab, focused on the cellular changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease progression, utilizing single nucleus RNA-sequencing technology.
In January 2024, Gilad began his PhD at the 100-plus Study, where he investigates the connections between genetic mutations, RNA transcription, protein expression, pathology accumulation, and cognitive performance. His research involves analyzing data from individuals with Alzheimer’s disease as well as those who have achieved extreme longevity. By studying these gradual changes, Gilad aims to identify factors that influence why some people develop the disease while others remain unaffected. His work seeks to provide insights into the longitudinal mechanisms of disease and aging, with potential therapeutic implications for the early detection and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
g.s.green@amsterdamumc.nl
Maruelle Luimes
Maruelle obtained her bachelor’s degree in Psychobiology and her master’s degree in Neurobiology at the University of Amsterdam. During her final master’s internship at the pathology department of the VUmc, she focused on brain pathology in Alzheimer’s Disease and became aware of the 100-plus research. After graduating in 2023, Maruelle started working as a research technician at the 100-plus group. She is focusing on neuropathological characteristics in the centenarian brain in post-mortem tissue and is hoping to contribute to unraveling the mysteries and strengths of the healthy centenarian brain.
m.c.luimes@amsterdamumc.nl
DemenTREE
Anna Petáková
Anna was born and raised in the Czech Republic and in 2020 she moved to the Netherlands to further her education. In 2025 she obtained her Master’s in Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Leiden. Shortly after she joined the 100-plus team as a research assistant. The main focus of her work is data collection for a project focused on hereditary factors of dementia, running at the Alzheimer Centrum Amsterdam and the Department of Human Genetics. She enjoys working with patients and learning about the many types and manifestations of neurodegenerative diseases.
a.petakova@amsterdamumc.nl
Technical Support
Students
Marleny Yalaju
After completing the Bachelor’s degree in Psychobiology at the University of Amsterdam, Marleny started the Bioinformatics & Systems Biology programme at the VU/UvA (joint degree) in 2024. Marleny is currently doing an internship at the Alzheimer Center and contributes to the 100-plus Study by validating CNV data. Marleny really appreciates that the 100-plus Study focuses on what goes well in people’s health and places strong emphasis on prevention. Outside of work, Marleny plays volleyball in the VU team, enjoy bouldering, and like visiting nice cafés and restaurants with friends.
m.t.yalaju@amsterdamumc.nl
Karlijn de Kool
Karlijn is completing her Master’s degree in Nutritional and Public Health Epidemiology at Wageningen University. She is interested in understanding why, despie related lifestyle factors, some individuals develop diseases (at young age) while others remain healthy. Her interest in genetic research emerged during her Master’s thesis where she studied vitamin D genetics and hereditary cancer. She is now excited to further develop her expertise in this field during her internship at the 100-plus study, researching polygenic risk scores for risk factors in relation to cognitive health and longevity. Outside of work, Karlijn enjoys running, playing the piano and volunteering at an animal shelter.
k.a.m.dekool@amsterdamumc.nl
Bioinformatician Alzheimer Genetics Hub
Georgii Ozhegov
Georgii is a bioinformatician at the Alzheimer Genetics Hub. He previously worked at Novel Software Systems and developing pipelines for automatization processing of genomics data. Georgii is interested in the study of the genetic causes of neurodegeneration and how various genetic alterations influence brain processes. Also, he has experience in microbiology and biochemistry from his previous researches related to studying antibacterial peptides.
g.ozhegov@amsterdamumc.nl
Team Leuven
Annerieke Sierksma
Staff Scientist
Marit van Gorsel
Research Technician
Marit did her studies in Nijmegen, a bachelors’ in Molecular Life Sciences followed by
the master Molecular Mechanisms of Disease. Driven by the interplay between
biology and chemistry she went on to pursue metabolism research in Leuven.
After two years, she made the switch to neuroscience research by joining a drug
development company in Leuven where she worked on different neurodegenerative
diseases using iPSC-derived neuronal cultures. Since September 1st, 2025
she joined the 100-plus study in Leuven, where she will help set up the lab and
process donated brain samples for multi-omics measurements. In her free time,
she likes to sew clothes and go latin dancing.
marit.vangorsel@kuleuven.be
Ruth Maes
Research Technician
After high school in Belgium, Ruth spend a year as an exchange student in New Jersey, USA (1996-1997). Then she obtained her bachelor’s degree in Leuven in Pharmaceutical and Biological Techniques (2000) and started as a lab technician in the VIB MicroArray Facility (2000) where she got acquainted with and became expert in RNA and DNA work in the gene expression field. Over the years this core facility evolved into a sequencing service facility, the VIB Nucleomics Core where she could expand her knowledge further in scientific research but also in full lab organization, project management and hand-on training of new staff members. After 25 years of experience in the genomics and transcriptomics field, Ruth joined the Holstege lab to share her technical expertise, organizational skills, and passion for advanciing brain and disease research within the 100+ study. In her spare time, Ruth enjoys cycling, gravel biking, pilates and power training.
ruth.maes@kuleuven.be
Project Manager
Willemijn Stoker
Project Manager
Willemijn studied Business Administration and HRM at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. After graduating, she spend some years working as a location manager of a tutor institute. However, she wanted to do something more meaningful for society. Therefore, she started working at the 100-plus Study. She is really excited to work with this special group of centenarians and to see what further insights this research will bring us.
w.l.m.stoker@amsterdamumc.nl
Sponsored by Hans und Ilse Breuer-Stiftung.
External collaborators and co-supervisors
Neuropsychology
VU University: Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Clinical Neuropsycholgy.
Brain proteomics
VU University: Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research.
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