Curriculum Vitae

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Personal details
surname:Fehrmann
First names:Rudolf Stephan Nicolaas
Date of birth:18th April, 1979
Email:rudolffehrmann@gmail.com / r.s.n.fehrmann@umcg.nl

Current positions
2022 - present:Tenure track adjunct professor in artificial intelligence approaches for precision oncology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
2016 - present:Board-certified internist and medical oncologist, involved in care, teaching, and research, Department of Medical Oncology, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
2014 - present:Principal investigator at the Cancer Research Center Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.

Education
2014 - 2016:Residency training in Medical Oncology, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
2012 - 2014:Residency training in Internal Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
2010 - 2012:Residency training in Internal Medicine, Scheper Hospital, Emmen, The Netherlands.
2006 - 2010:MD/PhD joint program, Junior Scientific Masterclass, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands, MD degree January 29th 2010 and PhD degree February 3th 2010.
2002 - 2006:MSc degree in Medicine, August 31th 2006, Faculty of Medical Science, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
1998 - 2002:MSc degree in Cognitive Science and Engineering (Artificial Intelligence), August 26th 2002, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
1997 - 1998:Propaedeutic examination in Computer Science, February 29th 2002, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
1991 - 1997:Pre-university education (VWO), Courses: geography, chemistry, mathematics A and B, physics, Dutch, English Ubbo Emmius, Stadskanaal, The Netherlands.

Research experience
2016:Basic course on Regulations and Organisation for clinical investigators (BROK), updated in 2021, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
2014 - present:Principal investigator at the Cancer Research Center Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
2015:Participant in The 17th ECCO-AACR-EORTC-ESMO Workshop on Methods in Clinical Cancer Research, Flims, Switzerland (20 until 26 June 2015).
2010 - 2013:In parallel to my training in Internal Medicine/Medical Oncology: Affiliated as post-doctoral fellow, Departments of Genetics and Medical Oncology, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
2013:Visiting scientist (Jun-Sep); Subject: Personalized medicine, Supervisor: Prof. Scott Weiss, Partners Healthcare Center for Personalized Genetic Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
2006 - 2010:PhD research, Supervisors: Prof. A.G.J. van der Zee, Prof. E.G.E. de Vries, Dr. Ir. G.J. te Meerman, Dr. S. de Jong, Title: High dimensional data analysis for new insight in ovarian cancer phenotypes, Departments of Gynecologic Oncology, Medical Oncology and Genetics, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
2009:Visiting scientist (Sep–Dec); Subject: Translational Oncology, Supervisors: Prof. Stan B. Kaye and Prof. Robert Brown, Institute of Cancer Research and Drug Development Unit, The Royal Marsden Hospital, London, United Kingdom.
2006:Visiting scientist (3 weeks), supported by a personal grant of the Dutch Cancer Society, Subject: Statistical analysis of microarray expression data, Supervisor: Dr. Ricard Simon, Biometric Research Branch, National Cancer Institute (NCI), Bethesda, MD, USA.
2006:MSc thesis, Title: Analysis of ovarian cancer microarray data, Supervisor: Dr. Ir. G.J. te Meerman, Department of Genetics, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
2002 - 2006:Bio-informatician (8 hours/week), Department of Genetics, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
2002 :MSc thesis, Title: Cognitive navigation modeling of robots, Supervisor: Prof. L. Schomaker, Cognitive Science and Engineering (Artificial Intelligence), Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.

Teaching experience
2023 - 2024:Supervisor for competency training (science), Bachelor of Medicine year 1 Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
2022:Teach the Teacher part III. Supervise, test, and assess. Wenckebach Institute, University Medical Center Groningen.
2022:University Teaching Qualification (UTQ), University of Groningen, The Netherlands. The UTQ is a mark of quality used by all Dutch universities. It functions as a reliable frame of reference with respect to didactic skills. The BKO track consists of a series of modules, allowing lecturers to assess and develop all facets of teaching.
2021 - 2022:Supervisor for competency training (science), bachelor of Medicine year 2 Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
2021:Teach the Teacher part II. Education in daily practice. Wenckebach Institute, University Medical Center Groningen.
2020:Member of working group responsible for drafting a vision document for the learning line ‘Datascience in Biomedicine’ for master tracks in the Faculty of Science and Engineering Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
2018 - present:Lecturer in Current Themes in Oncology, Medical and Pharmaceutical Drug Innovation Master and Faculty of Science and Engineering Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
2018 - present:Lecturer in Summer School: Fundamentals of Biobanking and Cohort Research, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.
2014 - present:Lecturer in Biology of Cancer; Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
2016 - present:Lecturer in genetics course Medical Pharmaceutical Drug Innovation (MPDI) topmaster, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
2014:Lecturer in system biology; Medical Sciences Summer School Oncology 2014; University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
2013:Lecturer in integrative genomics; Educational session for residents Gastroenterology and Hepatology; University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
2011:Teach the Teacher part I. Teaching basics. Wenckebach Institute, University Medical Center Groningen.
2002 - 2005:Teaching assistant in statistics (6 weeks annually), Institute for Medical Education, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.

Selected lectures and presentations
2025:Brengt AI de medische oncologie vooruit? (Does AI advance medical oncology?), Oral presentation at the 11th Therapie op Maat 2025, Arnhem, the Netherlands (February 7th).
2024:Using machine learning to unravel the ‘cancer-immune setpoint’ in rare cancers (SETPOINT). Oral presentation at 1th Hanarth symposium, AI innovations in (rare) tumor oncology. 2024, Utrecht, the Netherlands (November 26th).
2024:Toward a fully automatized AI driven pipeline? Session chair at the 36th EORTC-NCI-AACR SYMPOSIUM on molecular targets and cancer therapeutics 2024, Barcelona, Spain (September 15th).
2024:Novel AI-enabled strategies in biomarker-informed clinical trials. Oral presentation at the ESMO Congress 2024, Barcelona, Spain (September 15th).
2023:Where are we in oncology in relation to developments in digital health, big data, artificial intelligence - challenges / opportunities. Session chair and oral presentation at the ESMO Congress 2023, Madrid, Spain (October 21th).
2023:Thema-avond AI in de gezondheidszorg - De jonge specialist (Theme Night AI in healthcare - The Young Specialist). Invited speaker, Utrecht, the Netherlands (September 19th).
2023:Artificial Intelligence: How to use technology to obtain the truth. Session chair and oral presentation at the ESMO Targeted Anticancer Therapies Congress (TAT), Paris, France (March 7th).
2022:The road towards clinical implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in oncology; Perspectives: which transformations are expected? Session chair and oral presentation at the ESMO Congress 2022, Paris, France (September 11th).
2021:Artificial Intelligence in de Zorg (Artificial Intelligence in Health care); Broadcast on MEDTalks.nl, Hilversum, the Netherlands (August 27th).
2020:AI in Healthcare; Oral presentation at the EMBL | Stanford Life Science Alliance symposium, Heilbronn, Germany (October 27th).
2020:Artificial intelligence lessons outside pathology; Oral presentation at the 32nd Congress of the European Society of Pathology, Glasgow, UK (September 2nd).
2020:Integrating artificial intelligence in patient care; Oral presentation at the 2nd ESMO Breast Cancer Congress, Berlin, Germany (May 8th). Due to the Covid-19 infection the format was changed to ESMO Breast Cancer Virtual Meeting (May 23-24).
2019:How to determine the cancer-immune setpoint in patients; Oral presentation at the 25th Oncologiedagen voor Nederland en Vlaanderen, Arnhem, the Netherlands (November 14th).
2019:Artificial Intelligence in Medicine; Workshop at the Antonius Deusing symposium 2019, Groningen, The Netherlands (November 2th).
2019:The medical oncologist perspective: What is the future role of artificial intelligence in medical oncology?; Session chair and oral presentation at the ESMO Congress 2019, Barcelona, Spain (September 29th).
2019:Towards targeted therapy using publicly available omics data; Oral presentation at the 13th training targeted therapy of the Dutch Society of Medical Oncology (NVMO), Utrecht, The Netherlands (May 17th).
2018:Short overview of factors that influence the cancer-immune set point; Oral presentation at the 4th Multidisciplinairy Immuno-Oncology Symposium, Driebergen, The Netherlands (September 18th).
2017:Harnessing transcriptomic tumour profiles from the public domain; Oral presentation at the East-West Alliance Symposium on big data in health, University of Oxford, United Kingdom (September 12th).
2017:Identification of novel therapeutic targets in glioblastoma with functional genomic mRNA profiling; Poster Discussion Session (presented by C.G. Brahm) at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, USA (June 5th).
2017:Tumor profiling (breast cancer immunoinfiltrations); Oral presentation at the 11th training targeted therapy of the Dutch Society of Medical Oncology (NVMO), Driebergen, The Netherlands (March 31th).
2017:Target finding and role of imaging agents in drug discovery; Plenary oral presentation at the International symposium on Molecular Imaging Agents in Medicine 2017, Groningen, The Netherlands (February 13th).
2016:Immune cell type fractions and gene expression in inflammatory breast cancer; Poster and oral presentation (presented by C.P. Schröder) at the 5th International Inflammatory Breast Cancer Conference, Boston, MA, USA (July 10th).
2016:The Identification of novel biomarkers for therapeutic and diagnostic goals in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma using functional genomic mRNA profiling; Oral presentation (presented by P.K.C. Jonker) at AAES 37th Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, USA (April 11th).
2015:Inverse relationships between high somatic copy number load and immune phenotypes in breast cancer; Poster presentation at 38th Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, San Antonio, TX, USA (December 10th).
2015:In silico immune analysis in breast cancer; Jules Bordet Cancer Institute, Brussels, Belgium (October 5th).
2015:'Van expressieanalyse naar kankertherapie' (Expression analysis to cancer therapy). Oral presentation in honor of retirement of dr. ir. G.J. te Meerman, Groningen, the Netherlands (September 25th).
2014:Multidisciplinaire (inter)nationale benadering op-maat van de kankerpatiënt verbetert behandelresultaten. Avond van Wetenschap & Maatschappij, The Hague, the Netherlands (October 6th).
2013:Functional Genomic mRNA profiling; Center for Functional Cancer Epigenetics, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA (August 8th).
2013:‘Voor een dubbeltje op de eerste rang’ (For a dime at ring side); J.W.R. Nortier lecture at the NABON-BOOG symposium, Utrecht, the Netherlands (April 11th).
2011:Integrative genomics approach in oncology: towards personalized medicine; Oral presentation at the Oncologiedagen voor Nederland en Vlaanderen, Arnhem, the Netherlands (November 18th).
2011:Towards personalized medicine in oncology: an integrative genomics approach to identify molecular subtypes and to guide treatment choice; Jules Bordet Cancer Institute, Brussels, Belgium (October 31th).
2011:On the brink of control and total chaotic collapse: Analysis of gene expression of 55,000 human samples reveals the cytogenetic architecture of human cancer; Oral presentation at the Second Symposium of Systems Genetics: from man to microbe, from genotype to phenotype, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands (September 29th).
2009:Novel approach to identify genes and pathways related to platinum resistance in ovarian cancers; E-Poster Presentation at the 16th International Meeting (ESGO 16), European Society for Gynecological Oncology, Belgrade, Serbia (October 11th).
2009:An integrated bio-informatics and functional approach to identify genes and pathways related to platinum resistance in ovarian cancer; Oral presentation at the 100th Annual Meeting, American Association for Cancer Research, Colorado Convention Center, Denver, CO, USA (April 22th).

Scholarships, grants and prizes
2024:Title: InSilicoGeneModulator: virtual gene transcription modulation. Funding source: Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research; Open Competition Domain Science – XS (€ 50,000). Role: project leader.
2024:Title: Spatially-resolved multi-OMIC analysis of the tumor micro-environment Funding source: University Medical Center Groningen Cancer Research Fund (€75,000). Role: principal investigator.
2024:Title: OPTIMIzation of symptom management through implementation of structural Symptom Monitoring (OPTIMISM) Funding source: Dutch Cancer Society (€ 3.957.793). Role: principal investigator.
2023:Title: Characterizing the interaction between neurons and ovarian cancer cells in high-grade serous ovarian cancer. Funding source: MMIT/IMIM PhD competition University Medical Center Groningen (€ 250,000). Role: principal investigator.
2022:Title: VOICE: Vaccination against cOvid In CancEr. Subproject: Predictors vaccination response and insight into long-term immunity against SARS CoV-2 variants in patients with cancer who receive chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy. Funding source: Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (€ 249,659). Role: principal investigator.
2022:Title: Mechanistic understanding and therapeutic targeting of immune evasion in triple-negative breast cancer. Funding source: Dutch Cancer Society (€ 1,022,831). Role: principal investigator.
2022:Title: IMAging Features Associated with Immune Response. Funding source: University Medical Center Groningen, PUSH Fund (€ 250,000). Role: project manager.
2021:Title: Predicting the tumor response for patients treated with an immune checkpoint inhibitor using transcriptional patterns in whole-blood.. Funding source: UniversityMedical Center Groningen Cancer Research Fund (€35,000). Role: principal investigator.
2021:Title: VOICE: Vaccination against cOvid In CancEr. Funding source: Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (€ 3.274.780). Role: consortium member, involved in protocol writing, responsible for biostatistical analyses.
2021:Title: Infrastructure fOr rare Cancers in the NEtherlands: Towards a comprehensive platform for early detection and treatment of rare cancers: FORCE. Funding source: Dutch Cancer Society (€ 3,207,241). Role: principal investigator.
2020:Title: Using machine learning to unravel the ‘cancer-immune setpoint’ in rare cancers. Funding source: Hanarth Fonds (Budget € 400,000). Role: principal investigator.
2019:Title: Specific imaging of immune cell dynamics using novel tracer strategies (Immune-Image) Funding source: European commission Horizon 2020 (Budget UMCG € 2,424,208). Role: team member involved in WP2: data storage and analysis enablement. Responsible for managing, coordinating, collecting and sharing multi-center (clinical) research data in an optimized and standardized way.
2019:Title: N-CIA: Netherlands facility for Cancer-Immune Analysis. Funding source: Dutch Cancer Society (€ 3,648,086). Role: head of the working group responsible for data management and integration.
2017:Title: POINTING: Towards patient-tailored cancer immunotherapy supported by a multifaceted predictive signature composed of integrative omics and molecular imaging. Funding source: Dutch Cancer Society (€ 1,988,916). Role: Principal investigator.
2017:Title: Novel tools to dissect and monitor tumor metabolism in melanoma patients. Funding source: Young Academy Groningen (€ 200,000). Role: Principal investigator.
2016:The Young Leader's Fellowship Grant, European CanCer Organisation (ECCO), European Cancer Congress 2017, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
2016:Title: Towards a hub for personalized medicine. Funding source: University Medical Center Groningen institutional funding (€ 478,000). Role: principal investigator.
2016:Title: Towards use of gut microbiome analysis to predict tumor response of patients on immune checkpoint inhibitors: initiating a cohort of patients with advanced solid tumors as a critical first step. Funding source: University Medical Center Groningen Cancer Research Fund (€ 42,000). Role: principal investigator.
2015:Title: Mining big data to improve biologically personalized therapeutics for cancer patients. Funding source: Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research; VENI starting grant (€ 250,000 + € 40,000). Role: Principal investigator.
2015:Selected as participant in the 17th ECCO-AACR-EORTC-ESMO Workshop on Methods in Clinical Cancer Research, an educational program that introduces junior clinical oncologists in any oncology subspecialty to the principles of good clinical trial design, Switzerland (20 until 26 June 2015).
2015:Rosenstein award 2014 for the publication Fehrmann et al. “Gene expression analysis identifies global gene dosage sensitivity in cancer” in Nature Genetics. This prize is awarded to a medical specialist in training (Internal Medicine) in the region North and East Netherlands with the best research publication in the last year.
2013:Title: The next step towards improved outcome for patients with genomically unstable tumors (NEXT-GEAR). Funding source: Alpe d’HuZes/Dutch Cancer Society (€ 817,000). Role: Principal investigator.
2013:The J.W.R. Nortier lecture. Dutch Breast Cancer Trialists’ Group. This lecture is awarded to a young and talented researcher to present their research to a large audience with scientific interest in breast cancer and its treatment at the annual NABON-BOOG symposium.
2012:Title: Mandema-stipendium. Funding source: University Medical Center Groningen (€ 65,000). Description: The UMCG awards yearly 1 or 2 ‘Mandema-stipendia’ to enable young physician-scientists (MD/PhD) to combine their medical specialist training with research and to establish their own line of research.
2011:Title: Pieter de Mulder award. Funding source: Dutch Association for Medical Oncology (€ 6,000). Description: The objective of this award is to allow a young and talented researcher in the field of oncology to spend a period at a renowned institution abroad for the purpose of promoting his or her research. This grant partially financed my visit to the Partners Healthcare Center for Personalized Genetic Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
2006 - 2010
:Title: MD/PhD scholarship. Funding source: Junior Scientific Master class, University Medical Center Groningen (€ 100,000). Description: This program offers students the opportunity to combine their Master’s phase with PhD training to obtain both an MD and a PhD upon completion. In this program students spend an additional two years on scientific research subsequent to their regular medical education.
2006
:Title: Travel grant. Funding source: Dutch Cancer Society (€ 6,000). Description: This grant enabled me to visit Dr. Richard Simon at the Biometric Research Branch, National Cancer Institute (NCI), Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

Committees
2016 - 2021:Selected member of the Young Academy of Groningen (YAG). The YAG is a diverse group of early career research scientists from a wide range of disciplines at the University of Groningen. In addition to excellence in research, members have a passion for contributing to issues related to science, policy, diversity, interdisciplinarity and science and society.
2013 - 2022:Selected member of the Ubbo Emmius Fonds (UEF) - Junior Scientific Master class (JSM) Talent Grant Committee, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen.

People
PhD-students
2024 - present:Itske Fraterman, project: OPTIMIzation of symptom management through implementation of structural Symptom Monitoring (OPTIMISM).
2023 - present:Tristan V. de Jong.
2022 - present:Arkajyoti Bhattacharya.
PhD-students
2025 - present:Ayari Perez Mendez, PhD-student, project: OPTIMIzation of symptom management through implementation of structural Symptom Monitoring (OPTIMISM).
2024 - present:Wissal Ramchi, PhD-student, project: automated segmentation FES PET.
2024 - present:Ilektra Koliaki, MD/PhD-student, project: Deciphering the Role of Leukocytes in Sepsis-Induced Acute Lung Injury: Pathogenesis, Biomarkers, and Therapeutic Implications.
2023 - present:Chantal Stappenbelt, PhD-student, project: Mechanistic understanding and therapeutic targeting of immune evasion in triple-negative breast cancer.
2023 - present:Mirela Perla, PhD-student, project: Characterizing the interaction between neurons and ovarian cancer cells in high-grade serous ovarian cancer.
2022 - present:Fleur L. van Doorn, PhD-student, project: Imaging in HNSCC.
2022 - presentLotte M. Smit, PhD-student, project: Immune imaging.
2022 - present:Lissane E. van Heijst, MD/PhD-student, project: Imaging strategies in esophageal cancer.
2021 - present:Manasa Lanka, PhD-student, project: Using machine learning to unravel the ‘cancer-immune setpoint’ in cancer.
2020 - present:Stefan Loipfinger, PhD-student, project: Using machine learning to unravel
the ‘cancer-immune setpoint’ in cancer.
2020 - 2021:Kaustav Datta, PhD-student, project: Using machine learning to unravel the ‘cancer-immune setpoint’ in cancer.
2019 - 2024:Setareh Rezaeeoshternian, PhD-student, project: Unraveling cancer biology using machine learning on big data.
2017 - 2024:Vincent Leeuwenburgh, PhD-student, project: Developing Activity-Based Probes to Dissect and Monitor Altered Metabolism in Cancer Cells.
2016 - 2024:Pascal K.C. Jonker, PhD-student, project: The identification and validation of new biomarkers in thyroid carcinoma and melanoma.
2015 - 2024:Thijs T. Wind, PhD-research; Supervisors: G.A.P. Hospers, R.S.N. Fehrmann, M. Jalving; Title of thesis: Biomarkers for response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in metastatic melanoma.
2017 - 2023:Laura Kist de Ruiijter, PhD-research; Supervisors: E.G.E. de Vries, R.S.N. Fehrmann, S.F. Oosting; Title of thesis: Clinical insights into the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with cancer.
2019 - 2023:Daan G. Knapen, PhD-research; Supervisors: E.G.E. de Vries, R.S.N. Fehrmann, D.A.J. de Groot; Title of thesis: Search for novel cancer treatments and reducing their side effects.
2015 - 2023:Saskia H. Hanemaaijer, PhD-research; Supervisors: B.F.A.M. van der Laan, R.S.N. Fehrmann, B.E.C. Plaat, B. van der Vegt; Title of thesis: Clinical challenges in systemic treatment and treatment response in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
2017 - 2022:Carlos G. Urzua, PhD-research; Supervisors: E.G.E. de Vries, R.S.N. Fehrmann; Title of thesis: In silico dissection of transcriptomes with a tumor immunology focus.
2016 - 2022:Xiaojuan Zhao, PhD-research; Supervisors: W.B. Nagengast, M.A.T.M. van Vugt, R.S.N. Fehrmann; Title of thesis: Developments in molecular and advanced endoscopic imaging in esophageal cancer.
2016 - 2022:Arkajyoti Bhattacharya, PhD-research; Supervisors: M.A.T.M. van Vugt, R.S.N. Fehrmann; Title of thesis: Mining high dimensional transcriptomic data to unravel the causes and consequences of genomic instability in cancers.
2016 - 2020:Cyrillo Brahm, PhD-research; Supervisors: H.M.W. Verheul, A.M.E. Walenkamp, R.S.N. Fehrmann, A. Westerman; Title of thesis: Improving the standard of care in glioblastoma: a challenging search for novel treatments.
2015 - 2020:Thijs Stutvoet, PhD-research; supervisors: S. de Jong, E.G.E. de Vries, R.S.N. Fehrmann; Title of thesis: Identification and modulation of drug targets for precision medicine in breast, lung and ovarian cancer subtypes.
2016 - 2019:Rico D. Bense, PhD-research; Supervisors: E.G.E. de Vries, C.P. Schröder, R.S.N. Fehrmann; Title of thesis: In silico strategies to improve insight in breast cancer.
2015 - 2019:Sergi Guerrero, PhD-research; Supervisors: M.A.T.M. van Vugt, R.S.N. Fehrmann; Title of thesis: Exploiting genomic instability as an Achilles’ heel in cancer.
2015 - 2019:Kirsten L. Moek, PhD-research; Supervisors: E.G.E. de Vries, D.J.A. de Groot, R.S.N. Fehrmann; Title of thesis: PET imaging and in silico analyses to support personalized treatment in oncology.
2014 - 2018:Stephanie van Gijn, PhD-research; Supervisors: M.A.T.M. van Vugt, R.S.N.Fehrmann; Title of thesis: Towards new personalized treatment options for patients with genomically unstable tumors.
2014 - 2017:Elmira Hartmans, PhD-research; Supervisors: J.H. Kleibeuker, G.M. van Dam, R.S.N. Fehrmann, W.B. Nagengast; Title of thesis: A new frontier in the field of gastroenterology: Fluorescence Molecular Endoscopy.
Technicians
2015 - present:Elles Wierenga, lab technician. Continued in the van Vugt lab at the UMCG.
Research clerkships guidance
2024:Feija Somefun; University of Groningen, Medicine; Supervisors: R.S.N. Fehrmann, A Bhattacharya; Master thesis; Title: Unravelling specific copy number alterations in endometrial cancer using independent transcriptional components and spatial transcriptomics.
2024:Argyro Anagnostopoulou; University of Groningen, Biomedical Sciences; Supervisors: R.S.N. Fehrmann, A Bhattacharya; Master thesis; Title: Investigating the relation between copy number and immune transcriptional footprints in the context of spatial transcriptomics of cancer.
2023:Tomas Vogels; University of Groningen, Biomedical Sciences, colloquium Biomedical Sciences; Supervisors: R.S.N. Fehrmann, A Bhattacharya; Title: The promise of synthetic data.
2023:Dennis Wiersma; Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Bioinformatics, internship project; Supervisors: R.S.N. Fehrmann, A. Bhattacharya; Title: Machine learning driven tissue prediction.
2023:Feija Somefun; University of Groningen, Medicine, Pilot project Junior Scientific Masterclass; Supervisors: R.S.N. Fehrmann, M. de Bruyn, A Bhattacharya; Title: Unraveling the biological mechanisms behind TLS in EC using independent transcriptional components and spatial transcriptomics.
2023:Luca Lichner; University of Groningen, Medicine, Pilot project Junior Scientific Masterclass; Supervisors: M. Jalving, J.J. de Haan, R.S.N. Fehrmann; Title: Whole-blood RNA sequencing to predict response to immune checkpoint inhibition.
2022:Floris van Eisden; University of Groningen, Biomedical Sciences, colloquium Biomedical Sciences; Supervisors: R.S.N. Fehrmann; Title: Machine learning in Oncology.
2022:Alexandra Kolle; University of Groningen, Biomedical Sciences, Research Project Biomedical Sciences; Supervisors: R.S.N. Fehrmann, A. Bhattacharya; Title: Classifying cancer patients based on survival information and expression levels of oncogene-induced replication stress signature genes.
2022:Kieron Mayle; University of Groningen, Biomedical Sciences, Research Project Biomedical Sciences; Supervisors: R.S.N. Fehrmann, A. Bhattacharya; Title: Classifying cancer patients based on survival information and expression levels of oncogene-induced replication stress signature genes.
2021:Zoë Verstappen; Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Bioinformatics, internship project; Supervisors: R.S.N. Fehrmann, A. Bhattacharya; Title: Gene set enrichment drive batch correction.
2021:Mark Frederiks; Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Data Science for Life Sciences, Master thesis; Supervisors: R.S.N. Fehrmann, A. Bhattacharya; Title: Harmonize and infer missing values in large-scale gene-expression datasets.
2021:Thanh Pham; University of Groningen, Biomedical Sciences, Research Project Biomedical Sciences; Supervisors: R.S.N. Fehrmann, A. Bhattacharya; Title: Exploring association between tumor-microenvironment and clinic pathological information of patients with breast cancer.
2021:Malou Oude Vrielink; University of Groningen, Biomedical Sciences, Research Project Biomedical Sciences; Supervisors: R.S.N. Fehrmann, A. Bhattacharya; Title: Exploring association between tumor-microenvironment and clinic pathological information of patients with breast cancer.
2021:Bas Kasemir; Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Bioinformatics, Bachelor thesis; Supervisors: R.S.N. Fehrmann; Title: Feature extracting from images.
2021:Rik van de Pol; Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Bioinformatics, internship project; Supervisors: R.S.N. Fehrmann; Title: Inferring and harmonizing expression profiles with deep learning.
2021:Liesje Bloembergen; Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Bioinformatics, Bachelor thesis; Supervisors: R.S.N. Fehrmann; Title: Inferring and harmonizing expression profiles with consensus independent components.
2020:Shanlin Tong, Medicine, Touch-Try-Teach (TTT) project, Junior Scientific Masterclass, Supervisors: R.S.N. Fehrmann, Arkajyoti Bhattacharya; Title: Removing batch effects in survival data.
2020:Daan Potijk; University of Groningen, Medicine, scientific assay; Supervisors: R.S.N. Fehrmann; Title: Deep learning in health care and science.
2020:Liesje Bloembergen; Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Bioinformatics, internship project; Supervisors: R.S.N. Fehrmann; Title: Exploring the immunosuppressive effect of SCNAs.
2020:Rik van de Pol; Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Bioinformatics, internship project; Supervisors: R.S.N. Fehrmann; Title: The association between different types of SCNA and immune phenotypes.
2020:Dylan Mezach, University of Groningen, Faculty of Science and Engineering, internship; Supervisors: R.S.N. Fehrmann; Title: Extracting a biological relevant latent space from a large number of transcriptomes using a generative adversarial network (GAN).
2019:Jeffry Shu, University of Groningen, The International Master in Innovative Medicine (IMIM), MSc-thesis; Supervisor: R.S.N. Fehrmann; Title: A machine learning approach to predict anticancer drug sensitivity.
2019:Willemijn F Oudijk; Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Bioinformatics, internship project; Supervisors: R.S.N. Fehrmann; Title: Using gene expression data to gain insight into genes involved in Microsatellite Instability.
2019:Dylan Mezach, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Life Science and Technology, Bachelor thesis; Supervisors: R.S.N. Fehrmann, S. de Jong; Title: Improving immunotherapy by altering glucose metabolism and target discovery using gene expression profiles of cutaneous melanoma samples.
2017:Jorrit Bakker, University of Groningen, Medicine and Information Science, MSc-thesis; Supervisors: B. Plank, R.S.N. Fehrmann; Title: Predicting the primary origin of Cancer of Unknown Primary using mRNA expression profiles and machine learning.
2016:Carlos G. Urzua Traslavina, University of Groningen, The International Master in Innovative Medicine (IMIM), MSc-thesis; Supervisor: R.S.N. Fehrmann; Title: Transcriptional profiles of cancers with unknown primary tumor. (continued as PhD-student)
2015:Rico D. Bense, University of Groningen, Medicine, MSc-thesis; Supervisors: C.P. Schröder, R.S.N. Fehrmann; Title: Target-finding in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer based on Genomic Instability: a Meta-Analysis. (continued as PhD-student)
2014:Christiaan Serbanescu-Kele, University of Groningen, Medicine, MSc-thesis; Supervisors: B.E.C. Plaat, S.F. Oosting, R.S.N. Fehrmann; Title: Genomic instability is a prognostic marker in head and neck cancer.
Visiting scientist
2022:Anurag Kumar Srivastava, PhD-student. Joined the lab for 6 months to learn the basics of bioinformatics.
Research guidance
2015 - 2016:Pascal K.C. Jonker, MD, project: The identification and validation of new biomarkers in thyroid carcinoma. (continued as PhD-student)

Professional memberships
2016 - present:Member of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO).
2016 - present:Full member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
2016 - present:Active member of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
2014 - present:Member of the Dutch Society of Medical Oncology (NVMO).
2010 - present:Member of the Dutch Society of Internal Medicine (NIV).

Commissions of trust
Ad hoc reviewer for:Theranostics, Clinical Cancer Research, JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics, Systematic Reviews, Oncotarget, Bioinformatics, npj Breast Cancer, Oncoimmunology, iScience, Aging, Human Mutation, European Journal of Cancer, Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, Lancet Oncology.
Grant reviewer:Dutch Cancer Society (KWF Kankerbestrijding), European Research Counsil (ERC), UK Research Innovation (UKRI) scheme, Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF), and Hanarth Fund
Think-thanks:Member of think-thank ‘ICT and innovation’ of the Netherlands Cancer Registry (NCR)

Member of think-thank ‘Artificial Intelligence’ of the University Medical Center Groningen

AI working group in oncology of the Dutch Association for Medical Oncology.
Scientific Committees:ESMO 2021 Scientific Committee as a Member of the Public Policy Sub-Committee (Track)

ESMO 2022 Scientific Committee as a Member of the Policy and preventive strategies (Track)

ESMO 2023 Scientific Committee as a Member of the Policy and preventive strategies (Track)

2023 – present: Member of AI working group of the Dutch Society for Medical Oncology

2024 – present: Scientific Committee Co-Chair of the ESMO AI and Digital Oncology Congress

2024 – present: Member of the scientific review committee Exploration of the Dutch Cancer Society.
Editorial boards:2023 – present : Member of editorial board ESMO Real World Data and Digital Oncology.