Each year, the AGEM research institute organizes a seminar series focused on metabolism: the Tager Lectures. These lectures are named after Professor Joseph Tager, who made important contributions to Fabry, Pompe and Gaucher disease and had a major impact on our understanding of peroxisomal diseases. He was chairman of the Biochemistry Department at the University of Amsterdam (1980-1991).

The Tager Lecture series has been organized since 2017 by a team of AGEM PIs. Right now, Riekelt Houtkooper, Susanne La Fleur, Noam Zelcer and Eveline Bruinstroop are part of the committee. The invited lecturers are researchers from AGEM as well as renowned scholars beyond the Amsterdam UMC. They are all known for their valuable work in the field of gastroenterology, endocrinology and metabolism. An overview of the speakers can be found below. See the events page to know when the next Tager Lecture is planned.

2024

Tuesday January 9: Prof. dr. Nicolaas Deutz

Health & Kinesiology, Texas A&M University

"Stable isotope methods in human clinical research"

Thursday March 7: Dr. Sean Froese

Head of Research, Division of Metabolism, University Children’s Hospital, Zurich

"Inborn disorders of folateand vitamin B12 metabolism: causes, consequences and the push for novel treatments"

Nicolaas Deutz

Nicolaas Deutz

Sean Froese

Sean Froese

Tony Lam

Prof. dr. Michela Deleidi

Michela Deleidi

Thursday May 23: Prof. dr. Tony Lam

Toronto General Hospital Research Institute & University of Toronto

"A kidney-brain axis regulates food intake and body weight"

Tuesday July 2: Prof. dr. Michela Deleidi

Laboratory of Mechanisms and Therapy of Genetic Brain Diseases, Institut Imagine, Paris

"Investigating Genetic Brain Diseases using Brain Organoids"

Prof. dr. Kerstin Stemmer

Kerstin Stemmer

Thursday October 3: Prof. dr. Kerstin Stemmer

Institute of Theoretical Medicine, University of Augsburg, Germany

"Extracellular Vesicles: Emerging Key Players in Metabolic Diseases"

2023

Thursday February 2: Dr. Lena Pernas

Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing

"Organelle and metabolic dynamics of infection"

Thursday April 6: Prof. dr. Duncan Basset

Molecular Endocrinology Laboratory, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Imperial College London

“Advances in understanding the skeletal consequences of thyroid disease”

Lena Pernas

Duncan Bassett

Joerg Heeren

Ron Heeren

Thursday June 8: Prof. dr. Joerg Heeren

University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department for Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology

“Brown adipose tissue and lipid metabolism”

Thursday July 20: Prof. dr. Ron Heeren

The Maastricht MultiModal Molecular Imaging institute, Maastricht University

“Seeing is believing: visualizing cellular metabolism with imaging mass spectrometry”

Headshot of Jaap Keijer

Jaap Keijer

Foto van Dr. Felix Hartmann

Felix Hartmann

Thursday September 7: Prof. dr. Jaap Keijer

Human and Animal Physiology, Wageningen University

“Functional and pathway changes in the human aging muscle”

Thursday November 9: Dr. Felix Hartmann

German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg

“Quantifying metabolic regulation in tissue microenvironments via multiplexed imaging”

2022

Thursday October 13: Dr. Sabine Fuchs

Department of Metabolic Diseases, UMC Utrecht

"Prime Time": Adult stem cell (organoid) technology and precise gene (prime) editing to develop innovative therapies for patients with metabolic diseases.

Sabine Fuchs

Hans-Georg Sprenger

2021

Thursday October 28: Dr. Hans-Georg Sprenger

Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research & Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA.

"Mitochondrial Proteostasis and Inflammation”

2020

Thursday January 30: Prof. dr. Anu Suomalainen

Research Program of Stem Cells and MetabolismFaculty of Medicine, Biomedicum Helsinki, University of Helsinki, Finland.

“Metabolic mechanisms of tissue specificity: lessons from mitochondrial disorders”

Anu Suomalainen

Stephan Herzig

Xavier Fioramonti

Thursday October 29: Prof. dr. Stephan Herzig

Helmholtz Diabetes Center, Institute for Diabetes and Cancer, Munich, Germany.

“Coordination of systemic metabolism by inter-cellular signaling”

Thursday December 10: PhD, Associate Prof. Xavier Fioramonti

INRAE, NutriNeuro Institute, Bordeaux, France.

“Brain glucose- and insulin-sensing in physiological and diabetic conditions

2019

Thursday May 9: Prof. Dr. Paul Dawson

Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

“Molecular Mechanisms of Intestinal Bile Acid Transport and Signaling”

Thursday September 12: Prof. Dr. Christian Wolfrum

Department of Health Science and Technology, Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), Zurich, Switzerland.

“Brown fat composition and function regulating systemic metabolism”

Paul Dawson

Christian Wolfrum

Katrien de Bock

Jan van den Bossche

Thursday October 31: Dr. Katrien de Bock

Department of Health Science and Technology, Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), Zurich, Switzerland.

“Metabolic crosstalk between the endothelium and macrophages during recovery from hindlimb ischemia”

Thursday December 12: Dr. Jan Van den Bossche

Department of Molecular Cell Biology and Immunology, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

“Metabolic control of macrophage activation”

2018

Monday February 5: Dr. Celine Riera

Diabetes and Obesity Research Institute, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, USA.

"Chemosensory neurons in the control of metabolic homeostasis"

Thursday March 8: Dr. Clara van Karnebeek

Departments of Pediatrics & Clinical Genetics, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

“Translating -omics data into diagnosis and treatment for neurometabolic diseases”

Celine Riera

Celine Riera

Clara van Karnebeek

Clara van Karnebeek

Thursday May 24: Dr. Thomas Langer

Max-Planck-Institute for Biology of Ageing, Cologne, Germany.

“Proteolytic control of mitochondrial proteostasis”

Thursday September 13: Dr. Ruben Nogueiras

University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

"Unraveling the metabolic role of p53”

Thursday December 6: Dr. Sophie Steculorum

Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research, Köln, Germany

“Central control of feeding and systemic insulin sensitivity”

Thomas Langer

Thomas Langer

Ruben Nogueiras

Ruben Nogueiras

Sophie Steculorum

Sophie Stecolorum