Marcel Karperien's Biography

Marcel Karperien, Professor, University of Twente

Marcel Karperien studied biology at Utrecht University. After graduation in 1991 he worked as a PhD-student at the Netherlands Institute for Developmental Biology and Stem Cell Research. He continued his career at the Leiden University Medical Center working on regulation of longitudinal bone growth and metabolic bone disorders. In 2007 he moved to the MIRA Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine where he established the Department of Developmental BioEngineering. He is interested in developing new solutions for treating cartilage related disorders. His work is technology inspired and is characterized by a multidisciplinary approach. In his work in depth knowledge of the molecular and cellular biology of cartilage is combined with state of the art chemical- and nano-technology. Specific research topics are i) the identification of the molecular mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of osteoarthritis, ii) the development of (stem) cell based strategies for repairing the damaged articular cartilage surface and iii) the development of new generations of biomaterials that can be used in a non-invasive manner for cell delivery in the diseased joint. Marcel Karperien has received awards from the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (Young investigator award, travel grant awards), Dutch Society for Endocrinology (NVE), the European Calcified Tissue Society and the MIRA Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine for his work. His work is supported by an unrestricted research grant from the Dutch Arthritis Foundation.