The TGS Research Honours PhD Award for Twente Doctoral Top Talent 2015 has been won by Maaike Koenrades, researcher at the Faculty of Science and Technology. She accepted the Award on Monday 31 August during the Opening of the Academic Year of the University of Twente. The prize awarded to Maaike Koenrades consists of a cheque of 2,500 euros, which she may spend on an educational programme or exchange during her doctoral research.
Koenrades: "My research is about the shape and movement of stent grafts. These are cylinder-shaped metal gauzes covered with woven plastic, which are placed in patients with a widened aorta (aneurysm). This is supposed to prevent the weakened vascular wall from tearing. However, sometimes the stent graft doesn't properly stay in place after a while, causing problems. In the first place the focus of my research is to gather knowledge; what exactly happens to stent grafts in the body under the influence of the heartbeat? One thing we can do is help doctors select the right stent for that specific patient prior to the operation. For example, the choice of stent has to do with the condition of the vascular wall. The follow-up and check-up of patients after surgery is very important. If we can better estimate when things go wrong, we can take action more quickly. Currently we are gathering the CAT scan data of patients and analysing this on the basis of algorithms we developed."
Video Maaike Koenrades
Koenrades completed her Technical Medicine degree in November 2014. She started her research into stents with a bridging scholarship from the Twente Graduate School. This scholarship expired in July, prompting her to find a new backer herself. The 'Vascutek' firm enables her to continue her research for at least another year and a half. Prof. Slump of EWI is one of her thesis supervisors.
The jury was very impressed by her research proposal and her presentation on the subject. In addition, the jury greatly appreciated the fact that her work was well connected to relevant stakeholders. A clear objective has been set, including a risk befitting a research project at a university.
Twente Graduate School
The Twente Graduate School was founded in 2009 and has about nineteen different MSc and PhD programmes in partnership with the UT research institutes and departments. TGS focuses on excellent students who want a career in research. The nineteen programmes contain routes in order to already presort for a doctoral research during your master's.
Five graduating awards were also presented during the meeting. In addition, Erwin Hans received the Central Education Award. More information on these awards can be found here.
