Get to know our team

As a pharmacologist, I have always been interested in novel drugs, and given my research topic hypertension, this concerned antihypertensive drugs, in particular drugs interfering with the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. Over the last decade, interest has moved into the direction of hypertension in cancer patients and pregnant women, where endothelin receptor blockers might be of advantage.

Professor Dr. Irwin Reiss is neonatologist at Erasmus MC – Sophia Children's Hospital in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He specializes in Neonatology, with a research focus on cardiopulmonary adaptation in preterm infants and pulmonary vascular disease in bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Professor Reiss is also a member of the Placenta Lab, contributing to studies on placental function and its impact on neonatal health. He has co-authored over 400 international peer-reviewed publications.

My research investigates the endocannabinoid system in the placenta, which is crucial for healthy development. In preeclampsia, this system is disrupted, though the exact mechanisms are unclear. Additionally, I’m investigating the effects of cannabis use during pregnancy, which is linked to preeclampsia, to explore how it impacts placental function.

I am a medical doctor currently working on my PhD research, mainly focusing on preeclampsia. I am mostly involved in this research from a more clinical perspective, but I am also involved in the placenta lab trying to involve clinical perspective into the lab.

Currently working as a physician-researcher to achieve my PhD, my main focus is the role of early-onset preeclampsia on long term cardiovascular health. Though my research has a clinical focus, I work with my colleagues on better understanding the placental function and its role in pregnancy pathology.

I am a postdoctoral researcher with a passion for developing tissue-like models by blending (computational) biology and engineering. My work is centered on the maternal-fetal interface, with a specific focus on creating innovative placental models, such as trophoblast organoids and placenta-on-a-chip systems.

Michelle is a postdoctoral researcher at the Rotterdam Placenta Lab studying how the function of the placenta changes in pregnancy disorders, with the aim to optimize placental function during pregnancy during those disorders. With a background in cardiovascular research and a passion for physiology, Michelle strives to combine knowledge from the cardiovascular and placenta fields.

I am an internist specializing in obstetric medicine at Erasmus MC, dedicated to improving maternal and fetal health. My research focuses on high-risk pregnancies, including pre-eclampsia, using glucose sensors, placental perfusion, and placenta explant models to study complications and enhance outcomes. By bridging clinical practice and research, I aim to develop innovative solutions for better care.

Tim Korevaar is an obstetric internist and endocrinologist with a specific interest in gestational and placental endocrinology. His research is focused on the physiology and clinical consequences of gestational thyroid disease, steroid hormones, glucose homeostasis and endocrine disrupting chemicals. He supports the placenta lab by thinking about bench-to-bedside translations and vice versa, and to fully leverage the potential of the placental lab models to perform endocrinological studies

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Professor Dr. Hilmar Bijma is a maternal fetal specialist at Erasmus MC – Sophia Children's Hospital in Rotterdam and professor at the Department of Care Ethics of the University of Humanistic studies in Utrecht, Netherlands. She specializes in scientific research into the impact of psychosocial adversity on fetal and maternal life-course health and implementation research into how to use that knowledge for health care innovation and transformation.