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.
Technical Support
Maruelle Luimes
Pathological support
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.
Research Assistants
Marieke Graat
Practical team member
After graduating from her research master in Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience at Maastricht University, Marieke spent a few years working as a software engineer. Wanting to return to her field of interest, she has now joined the 100-plus study as a research assistant. Her main focus is the data collection, for which she visits the centenarians at home, as well as other supporting tasks relating to the study. In her spare time she likes to swim and play the piano.
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
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.nlPhD students
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.
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
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
Master students
Bachelor students
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.
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.
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.
