Postdocs:
2024 – present : Itske Fraterman, project: OPTIMIzation of symptom management
through implementation of structural Symptom Monitoring (OPTIMISM).
2023 – present : Tristan V. de Jong: bioinformatician.
2022 – present : Arkajyoti Bhattacharya: bioinformatician, statistician, machine learner.
PhD-students:
2025 – present : António Costa de Pina, PhD-student, project: spatial transcriptomics & functional analysis of gastrointestinal disease.
2025 – present : Floortje van de Geest, PhD-student, project: OPTIMIzation of symptom management through implementation of structural Symptom Monitoring (OPTIMISM).
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 – present : Lotte M. Smit, MD/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 – 2025 : 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.
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.
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 – 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.
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 – 2019 : 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.
2023 : 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; 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; Supervisors: R.S.N. Fehrmann; Title: Machine learning in Oncology.
2022 : Alexandra Kolle; University of Groningen, Biomedical Sciences, Research Project; 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; 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; 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; 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; 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, Bachelor thesis; 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; Supervisors: R.S.N. Fehrmann; Title: Exploring the immunosuppressive effect of SCNAs.
2020 : Rik van de Pol; Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Bioinformatics, internship; 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), Master 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; 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, Master 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, Master 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, Master 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:
2015 : 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).