Welcome to the Louis Vermeulen laboratory website
Vermeulen Lab seeks to elucidate the origin, the evolution and the heterogeneity of colorectal cancer. We have set up and developed a collection of state-of-the-art tools and techniques to study colorectal cancer heterogeneity and stem cell dynamics. One key characteristic of our group is the highly multidisciplinary composition, which allows us to approach scientific questions from many different perspectives.
Recent news
PhD student Milou van Driel wins poster prize
On the 24th of May, PhD student Milou van Driel received one of the poster prizes at the Intestinal Stem Cell – Niche Interactions in Health and Disease conference organized in Cancún. Her poster described her research on the effect of…
Louis Vermeulen receives ERC Consolidator Grant
The ERC Consolidator Grants are awarded to outstanding researchers with at least seven and up to twelve years of experience after completing their PhD, and a scientific track record showing great promise. “This ERC grant is a recognition of everybody…
Louis Vermeulen receives the Vici grant of 1.5 million euros from the Dutch Research Council (NWO)
The Vici grant targets highly experienced researchers who have successfully demonstrated the ability to develop their own innovative lines of research, and to act as coaches for young researchers. Outcompeting Cancer – Prevention is better than cure Cell competition plays…
Recent publications
Continuous clonal labeling reveals uniform progenitor potential in the adult exocrine pancreas.
Cell Stem Cell, 2021 28(11), 2009-2019.e4
The tissue dynamics that govern maintenance and regeneration of the pancreas remain largely unknown. In particular, the presence and nature of a cellular hierarchy remains a topic of debate. Previous lineage tracing strategies in the pancreas relied on specific marker…
Marker-free lineage tracing reveals an environment-instructed clonogenic hierarchy in pancreatic cancer.
Cell Rep, 2021 37(3), 109852
Effective treatments for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) are lacking, and targeted agents have demonstrated limited efficacy. It has been speculated that a rare population of cancer stem cells (CSCs) drives growth, therapy resistance, and rapid metastatic progression in PDAC. These…
The recurring features of molecular subtypes in distinct gastrointestinal malignancies-A systematic review.
Crit Rev Oncol Hematol, 2021 164103428
In colorectal cancer (CRC), pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and gastric cancer (GC) multiple studies of inter-tumor heterogeneity have identified molecular subtypes, which correlate with clinical features. Our aim was to investigate the attributes of molecular subtypes across three different gastrointestinal…