Team 2023

Merel van den Bosch – Team manager

Program: MSc. Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Biology 

I have always dreamed about impacting the medical world with molecules and proteins. I was looking for some extracurricular activities and iGEM seemed to be a great fit for me. As the team manager, I will keep track of all parts of the project and keep the bigger picture in mind, making sure that all parts are connected. Besides, I will make sure to unite the team and to have a great time together.

Amanda Seiranjan – Public relations captain and secretary

Program: BSc. Biomedical Engineering

Hi everyone! My name is Amanda, 19 years old and I am currently in my second year of my Biomedical Engineering bachelor’s degree. A year and a half into my degree, I realized that I wanted to do something aside from my usual studies, that would also give me lots of valuable experiences and teach me new skills. I thing iGEM is a great opportunity to not only gain more theoretical knowledge, but also to develop practical and soft skills. This year, I will be the public relations captain and secretary. This includes organization events, taking care of collaborations and managing our social media accounts, and the overall goal is to make poeple more aware of iGEM. I am looking forward to this year and I hope it will teach me lots of valuable lessons, together with my team!

Lisa Nooren – Human Practice manager and Education captain

Program: MSc. Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Biology

Hi everyone! My name is Lisa and I am a first year Master’s student Biomedical Engineering. Last year I decided that I wanted to get more out of my studies than just following courses. During my master’s I  am focusing on chemical biology which is a field not far away from synthetic biology. So, when I discovered iGEM I knew it was the student team for me. The coming year I want to further develop the skills I already have and combine this with learning new skills. Within the 2023 iGEM team, I will fulfill the function of Human Practice manager and Education captain. These functions are about building relationships with external stakeholders and making the world more familiar with synthetic biology. I am looking forward to taking on the challenge with the team and having a great time!

Veerle Jegers – Modeling captain and Design

Program: MSc. Medical engineering, Computational biology 

At the end of my bachelor, I realized I liked to do more besides my study. Joining iGEM was a perfect opportunity for this. As modeling captain, I will be responsible for making the computational model that supports the labwork and research. This will be a nice opportunity to practice with making computational models from the start and how they can be implemented into a research project. Next to modeling, I will also be responsible for the design to show our project to the common public. I am excited to make a project with an impact on society with our motivated team! 

Jay Beeren – Lab captain

Program: MSc, Biomedical Engineering, Bio-Organic Chemistry

Having acquired a decent basis of knowledge throughout my bachelor and master, I felt the need to apply this knowledge to something more tangible. When I came across iGEM, I thought it might be the perfect opportunity to do so, since this competition involves the creation of a project in which we can make a real step towards solving a current world problem. I mainly wanted to improve my skills regarding lab work, and therefore my main role in the team is that of Lab Captain. This includes planning and performing the experiments, helping other team members in the lab, and of course analyzing the results we obtain including discussing them with the team and our supervisor.  

Phil Geers – Finance manager and Sponsor coordinator

Program: MSc. Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Biology

I have always been interested in the projects iGEM did during my bachelor and when an opportunity arrived to join in my master I could not let it slip. I find it interesting how the iGEM competition allows a large amount of possibilities for projects and I hope that during my time in iGEM I will be able to expand my contacts with companies and apply my knowledge in a challenging issue. I will be taking the responsiblities for the finances and sponsoring which is something I have little experience with and I am looking forward to learning more about presenting and reaching out to companies. Furthermore, I am also curious to see what this team will be able to achieve and deliver this year.

Fleur Martens – Website and Wiki captain

Program: BSc. Medical Sciences and Technology 

Hi everyone! My name is Fleur and currently I am in the 3rd year of my bachelors Biomedical Engineering. So far I have only taken courses in my bachelor’s degree, so I was looking for a way to develop alongside these courses and to make a real impact by using my studies. iGEM was the perfect opportunity for this! I will be responsible for the website and Wiki this year. This means that I will manage this website and I will be responsible for building the team Wiki. Something I don’t have much experience with yet, but it’s a great chance to develop myself further. I really look forward working with this team and developing myself on a personal and professional level.

Prof. dr. ir. L. (Luc) Brunsveld

Prof. dr. ir. Luc Brunsveld is a professor at TU Eindhoven. His main research interests lie in the field of chemical biology, like biochemistry or molecular cell biology. Besides lecturing students, he conducts research concerning protein-protein interactions. 

Prof. dr. M. (Maarten) Merkx

Prof. dr. Maarten Merkx is a professor at the TU Eindhoven. He is an expert on protein sensors and leads the research group Protein Engineering operating at the interface of chemical biology and synthetic biology.

Prof. dr. ir. T.F.A. (Tom) de Greef

Dr.ir. Tom de Greef is an Associate Professor of Synthetic Biology in the department of Biomedical engineering. He is an expert at modelling dynamic systems and synthetic circuits.

Instructors

PhD candidate Thijs van Veldhuizen

As a third-year PhD candidate working on protein-protein interactions in artificial cells, I will assist the iGEM team mainly with protein design and microscopy. I look forward to helping the team in the lab during their exciting project and to experience the iGEM community. 

Post-Doc Eduardo Guisasola

Since my PhD I am devoted to develop drug delivery solutions for cancer treatment through materials science. Two postdocs later, I went over the fields of inorganic nanoparticles, polymer synthesis, self-assembly and protein engineering. I am very glad to join TU/e iGEM team this year! I find the competition quite a good and dynamic challenge. Therefore, I am willing to share my experience in stimuli-responsive biomaterials to help the team to create awesome cyborg cells.

Post-Doc Huynh Tien Duc Le

As an experienced postdoc in the field of self-assembling protein-based biopolymers and functionalization, I’m thrilled to support the young researchers from iGEM team on the design of functional materials able to form hydrogels intracellularly. I think this is a great opportunity for exchanging knowledge and experiences, as well as for getting mutual inspiration between young and experienced researchers. 

Jolien Marcelis

Hi, my name is Jolien Marcelis, the team manager of last year, and currently one of the advisors for this year’s team. Being part of the iGEM TU Eindhoven team was an incredible experience for me! I had a fantastic time working on the project together with my team and iGEM offered me a great learning opportunity. However, iGEM is more than just that. It is a platform that fosters innovation, tackles relevant challenges and integrates multiple disciplines which give new points of view. As an advisor, I am excited to continue to contribute to the iGEM community by helping the current team with answering their questions, offering feedback and suggestions on their progress, and providing guidance regarding competition-related aspects. Overall, my goal is to support the team to achieve their goals and succeed in the iGEM competition.

Jakob Scheele

My name is Jakob Scheele, former External Affairs & Human Practices manager of iGEM TU Eindhoven 2022 and now advisor of the 2023 team. With iGEM I got the opportunity to work on a worldwide problem at the forefront of innovation and healthcare. By combining the view of all the relevant stakeholders, we managed to design a new cell therapy for autoimmune diseases which granted us the win at the Grand Jamboree 2022 in Paris. Being part of this wonderful interdisciplinary student team has boosted my career and helped me develop myself personally and professionally. As a highlight, I would definitely pick our final presentation, which I was allowed to do together with Jolien Marcelis for an audience of more than 3000 people. Now I am just excited as last year to help the current team with advice on their progress. In particular, my goal is to support the team in how they can obtain and maintain their stakeholder relationships to get a well-rounded project for the iGEM competition. 

Floor van Boxtel

Hi, I am Floor van Boxtel, the finance and sponsor manager of the iGEM TU Eindhoven 2022 team. I think it was amazing to be part of the 2022 team. I got the opportunity to develop new skills, gain a lot of knowledge and meet numerous interesting people and companies. It was amazing to experience what we were able to accomplish by working together in super-motivated team to realize a project that faces a worldwide problem in healthcare. I am very proud of the results that our team achieved.
For this year’s iGEM TU-Eindhoven team, I am happy to be one of the advisors. In my role as advisor, I will mainly focus on supporting the team by helping and advising them regarding finance. My goal is to support the 2023 team in the best possible way by sharing the knowledge and experience that we obtained from our iGEM year. I am really looking forward to the results that this year’s team is going to achieve!