Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences

Oxygen is essential for organ function in the human body. Currently, no technique exists that doctors can use to monitor whether the organs receive enough oxygen. Through a unique collaboration between the intensive care, the Laboratory of intensive care medicine and anaesthesiology and the Biomedical photonics group, we will develop a prototype resonant Raman spectroscopy setup to measure intracellular oxygen levels. Light-based oxygen measurements will be performed in skin and organs in healthy and diseased state. This method could ultimately enable clinicians to determine whether the organs receive enough oxygen. This information can prevent organ damage and assist in treatments.

Current European and American guidelines recommend that Brugada syndrome (BrS) patients should avoid sports associated with increased core temperature, such as strenuous activity in hot or humid conditions. This restrictive sports advice is based on pre-clinical data and clinical data in Brugada patients with fever related hyperthermia. This study addresses that evidence gap by investigating whether exercise, passive hyperthermia, or the combination provoke relevant ECG changes associated with arrhythmogenic risk in BrS. Using the VU climate chamber, BrS patients and controls will undergo controlled heat and exercise protocols with continuous ECG and biomarker monitoring. By differentiating the effects of exertion versus temperature, this interdisciplinary project aims to clarify temperature-related arrhythmia mechanisms and enable personalized, evidence-based sports recommendations for BrS patients

This project will establish and standardize a living myocardial slice (LMS) platform at Amsterdam UMC (AMC and VUmc) to study and treat heart disease using human and pig cardiac tissue. These thin, living slices preserve native heart structure and function, enabling precise testing of therapies under near-physiological conditions. The project will harmonize protocols across both centers and model doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity with and without SGLT2 inhibitors. Using single-nuclei RNA sequencing, we will map the molecular responses of human heart tissue to these treatments. This innovative, collaborative platform will accelerate translational research and reduce dependence on animal models at AUMC.