An afternoon well spent with Prof. Dr. Ron M.A. Heeren at the Brightlands Future Farming Institute Brightlands Campus Greenport Venlo, Maastricht University. Ron is a pioneer in spatial molecular imaging M4i - Maastricht for Imaging, and his visit sparked engaging discussions around spatial transcriptomics and mass spec imaging and its integration with plant phenotyping. His insights into high-resolution molecular mapping opened up exciting possibilities for advancing our understanding of plant-environment interactions. We are especially inspired by the potential for collaboration, bringing together his expertise in imaging and our mission in plant systems biology and open data infrastructure. A big thank you (together with Wim Vriezen and Paolina Garbeva and all our colleagues at BFFI), Ron for sharing your vision and for an afternoon full of thought-provoking ideas. We are looking forward to exploring opportunities at the interface of molecular imaging and plant science.
Attended the experimental plant sciences (EPS) annual meeting 2025 in Egmond aan Zee. What an incredible gathering of researchers across diverse areas of plant science. Greatful to the EPS organising committee for putting together yet another successful and inspiring event. The meeting kicked off with an excellent welcome address by Saskia van Wees followed by insightful keynotes from Yoselin Benitez-Alfonso Mark Sterken Dmitry Lapin Emilyn Matsumura and Casper van der Kooi. Topics ranged from cell wall biophysics and plant-nematode interactions to salicylic acid signaling, plant viruses and the vibrant world of flower colouration. And the excitement does not stop here. We are looking forward to an engaging lineup of parallel sessions, flash talks and poster discussions continuing throughout today and tomorrow. A fantastic space for exchanging ideas and sparking new collaborations in plant research in the Netherlands.
Announcing a bit late but Vittorio Maria Nicoloso is a new PhD student, started in October 2024, promoted by Prof. Wim Vriezen and co-promoted by me within the group of Plant Functional Genomics. He has graduated within MSc degree on Plant Biotechnology at the university of Turin and for four years he worked between the Research Council of Italy and the University of Liege on different topic but all focused on Plant Bioinformatics. On this new career path, he will use his knowledge to study the structural variation in cucumber genomes. I welcome him in my group and wish him success with his work.
Thank you Dr. Justin J.J. van der Hooft and Prof. Dr. Marnix Medema for making me a part of such a dynamic workshop! It was a pleasure to share insights multiomics approaches for plant biosynthetic gene cluster discovery and presented MEANtools during the workshop. The symposium and the workshop were incredibly stimulating, and it’s exciting to see how the community is pushing the boundaries of paired-omics analyses. Many congratulations once again for marking 10 years of the genome mining group and 5 years of the computational metabolomics group. Your group and your work are truly inspiring and I am fortunate to be a part of this community. Looking forward to staying connected and building future collaborations!
I am thrilled to share that I have recently joined Maastricht University’s Brightlands Future Farming Institute (BFFI) as an Assistant Professor in the department of Plant Functional Genomics. This marks an exciting new chapter in my academic journey, where I will continue to explore Bioinformatics, multi-omics data integration, and AI-driven approaches to advance sustainable agriculture. I look forward to collaborating with colleagues, students, and researchers worldwide in driving cutting-edge innovations at the interface of computational biology, plant science, and AI. Stay tuned for exciting updates as I embark on this journey. I am open to new collaborations—feel free to reach out!