The Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology is part of the Laboratory of Internal Medicine. There is a close collaboration with the clinicians of the Division of Endocrinology with regard to clinical and translational studies based on the principle 'From bedside to bench and back'. In addition, there is a close collaboration with the diagnostic laboratory of endocrinology. The department of Internal Medicine is subdivided in the divisions of Endocrinology, Vascular Medicine and Metbolic Disease, Nephrology, Immunology, Infectious Disease and Geriatrics.
Background The Neuroendocrinology Laboratory has a long track record in translational research aiming to improve diagnosis and medical treatment opportunities for patients with (neuro)endocrine disorders, with focus on pituitary, adrenal and neuroendocrine tumors. It is worldwide one of the few centers with extensive expertise on culturing endocrine tumor tissue. A tissue biobank has been set up and there is a close relationship with the clinic with access to unique patient cohorts. In recent years, the Neuroendocrinology Laboratory has adopted multi-omics technology in order to accomplish a more thorough in-depth investigation of endocrine tumor tissue. Transcriptomic, proteomic, epigenomic and microbiomic studies have been initiated in samples from adrenal, neuroendocrine tumors and also in modern 3D cell culture techniques.
Mission The vision for the future of the Neuroendocrinology Laboratory is to further expand the multi-omics technology for the analysis of endocrine tumors and to further develop advanced tissue culturing techniques (3D cell culture, organ-on-a-chip) in order to:
- Unravel pathophysiological processes and tumor-microenvironment interaction.
- Identify molecular drivers of growth and hormonal production of endocrine tumors.
- Identify novel diagnostic, predictive and therapeutic biomarkers.
- Assess sensitivity for (new) drug therapy and screen for new therapeutic targets.
As such, the primary goal of our translational research is to develop personalized medical therapy for each patient by taking a patient to the lab and back approach. The endocrine tumor working group aims for close collaborations with national and international networks.