News

In October 2022, more than 400 students of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences were challenged with the Long-COVID challenge. The goal: to take research into the causes of Long-COVID a step further. At the time – and still today – there was insufficient biomedical research into the causes of Long-COVID. The best idea has been researched over the past ten weeks in the Bachelor Research Hub of UMC Utrecht. They shared the results on June 30.

Students of biomedical sciences and medicine will investigate in the laboratory whether the interaction between autoantibodies and immune cells plays a role in the development of Long-COVID symptoms such as fatigue, muscle pain and reduced muscle strength.

“Education linked to biomedical research with the patient central. Education in which the students work together in an interdisciplinary way and work practically (also in the lab) with complex socially relevant challenges in health care" "It is education based on the ambition of De Nieuwe Utrechtse School"

Niels Bovenschen has been appointed Professor of Biomedical Research-based Education at the Faculty of Medicine as of 15 October. The emphasis of his chair is on education and aims to.. (text in Dutch)

Dr. Niels Bovenschen and Michael Schakelaar talk more about a new form of education that they devised for third-year students of Biomedical sciences, in which multidisciplinary collaboration takes place.

Niels Bovenschen en Michael Schakelaar see synergy with other disciplines as the future of education (Text in dutch).

Undergraduate Biomedical Sciences students at UMC Utrecht discovered a way that might make immunotherapy against medulloblastoma - an aggressive brain tumour that mainly occurs in children - possible in the future. In a new form of education, 12 students have been immersed in a Bachelor Research Hub research project for 10 weeks and discovered leads for immunotherapy against this tumour. A great result, according to coordinator Niels Bovenschen and student Matthias Quist. “This tumour desperately needs new treatment. This could be a starting point for it. ” (text in Dutch)

By correctly combining teaching with research practice, PhD students not only become better teachers, but also better researchers, argue Floris Valentijn and Niels Bovenschen. They argue for a hybrid PhD trajectory. (text in Dutch)

In order to continue to innovate and improve education, Utrecht University annually makes money available for innovative projects that contribute to the development of academic education. The assessment committee of the Utrecht Education Stimulation Fund (USO) has selected six cross-faculty projects that focus on: interdisciplinarity, education for professionals, laboratory education, learning analytics, intercultural competences and selection.

To facilitate transdisciplinary challenge-based education in Translational Medicine the implementation of a network of Bachelor Research Hubs is envisioned. This network will open possibilities to facilitate undergraduate students from different disciplines to work simultaneously on the same wicked and urgent societal problem within Translational Medicine from different perspectives.

How do we get rid of PLN? Patients, doctors and researchers challenge third-year students to better understand this hereditary heart muscle disease and to come up with research proposals that will bring us closer to therapy. “I am flabbergasted. These are great potential solutions. ”(text in Dutch)

Medulloblastomas are malignant brain tumours that mainly occur in young children. The standard therapy currently given is surgery followed by radiation and chemotherapy. Immunotherapy is a relatively new form of therapy and is aimed at activating the immune system to attack cancer cells. This research may in the future lead to a new form of immunotherapy for the treatment of medulloblastoma in children. (full text in Dutch)

Patients with unknown disease can serve as an educational catalyst in biomedical sciences to create strong synergy between healthcare, research and undergraduate education, with the goal of fostering translational medicine and helping patients.