Stef Zeemering

Post doc

Dr Stef Zeemering studied Knowledge Engineering at Maastricht University and graduated with a master in Operations Research. After working in the industry as a mathematical consultant, he went on do a PhD at Maastricht University on the topic of sparse optimisation in mathematical systems theory. After a brief return to industry as a scientific software engineer at Maastricht Instruments, he joined the Department of Physiology in 2011. As a post-doc, he investigates how we can measure and quantify the properties of atrial fibrillation (AF). He has particular interests in signal processing, parameter estimation and machine learning techniques applied to the assessment of the complexity of AF, and the prediction of AF progression and outcome, using both measurements obtained directly from the atria, as well as noninvasive measurements such as the electrocardiogram (ECG).

Recently, he started to develop and implement a systems biology approach to the understanding of AF, which is aimed at linking differences in atrial gene expression profiles, as determined by next generation RNA sequencing, to tissue characteristics and patient phenotype. His ambition is to develop a multiscale, patient-specific understanding of AF: starting from the genome and atrial tissue characteristics, all the way up to the electrophysiological properties of the conduction on the atrium and the projection of these conduction patterns on the body surface of a patient, as measured by the ECG.

Department of Physiology
Universiteitssingel 50, 6229 ER Maastricht
PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht
Room number: 3.108
T: +31(0)43 388 13 20

 

  • 2025
    • Zeemering, S., Borof, K., Schotten, U., Obergassel, J., Camm, A. J., Crijns, H. J. G. M., Eckardt, L., Fabritz, L., Goette, A., Habibi, Z., Heijman, J., Hermans, B. J. M., Lemoine, M. D., Magnussen, C., Metzner, A., Rillig, A., Schnabel, R. B., Schuijt, E., Suling, A., ... Kirchhof, P. (2025). Estimated atrial fibrillation burden on early rhythm-control and cardiovascular events in the EAST-AFNET 4 trial. EClinicalMedicine, 88, Article 103457. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103457
    • Blok, M., den Ouden, B. L., Kuiper, M., Ophelders, D. R. M. G., Jongbloed, M. R. M., Zeemering, S., Jensen, B., van Hunnik, A., & Boukens, B. J. (2025). Functional conduction system mapping in sheep reveals Purkinje spikes in the free wall of the right ventricular outflow tract. Frontiers in physiology, 16, Article 1631426. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2025.1631426
    • Habibi, Z., Verhaert, D. V. M., Betz, K., Hermans, B. J. M., Winters, J., Philippens, S. A. M., Chaldoupi, S. M., Maesen, B., Maessen, J. G., Isaacs, A., Westra, S. W., Nijveldt, R., Gillet, L., Wienhues-Thelen, U. H., Koehler, M., Zeemering, S., Vernooy, K., Linz, D., & Schotten, U. (2025). Association of atrial fibrillation burden and clinical profile with blood biomarkers: Results from the ISOLATION Ablation Cohort. Heart Rhythm O2, 6(5), 661-670. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hroo.2025.02.017
    • Isaacs, A., Zeemering, S., Winters, J., Batlle, M., Bidar, E., Boukens, B., Casadei, B., Chua, W., Crijns, H. J. G. M., Fabritz, L., Guasch, E., Hatem, S. N., Hermans, B., Kääb, S., Kawczynski, M., Maesen, B., Maessen, J., Mont, L., Sinner, M. F., ... Stoll, M. (2025). Lateral Atrial Expression Patterns Provide Insights into Local Transcription Disequilibrium Contributing to Disease Susceptibility. Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine, 18(1), Article e004594. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCGEN.124.004594
    • Ozgul, O., Marques, V. G., Hermans, B. JM., van Hunnik, A., Verheule, S., Gharaviri, A., Pezzuto, S., Auricchio, A., Schotten, U., Bonizzi, P., & Zeemering, S. (2025). High-density and high-coverage composite atrial activation maps: an in-silico validation study. Ieee Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 72(1), 79-89. https://doi.org/10.1109/TBME.2024.3439502
  • 2024
    • Reyat, J. S., Sommerfeld, L. C., O'Reilly, M., Cardoso, V. R., Thiemann, E., Khan, A. O., O'Shea, C., Harder, S., Müller, C., Barlow, J., Stapley, R. J., Chua, W., Kabir, S. N., Grech, O., Hummel, O., Hübner, N., Kääb, S., Mont, L., Hatem, S. N., ... Fabritz, L. (2024). PITX2 deficiency leads to atrial mitochondrial dysfunction. Cardiovascular Research, 120(15), 1907-1923. https://doi.org/10.1093/cvr/cvae169
    • van Hunnik, A., Sobota, V., Zeemering, S., Opacic, D., Scaf, B., D'Alessandro, E., Oyaert, K., Kuiper, M., Diness, J. G., Sorensen, U. S., Milnes, J. T., van der Heyden, M. A. G., Jespersen, T., Schotten, U., & Verheule, S. (2024). Analysis of drug-induced and spontaneous cardioversions reveals similar patterns leading to termination of atrial fibrillation. Frontiers in physiology, 15, Article 1399037. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2024.1399037
    • Winters, J., Kawczynski, M. J., Gilbers, M. D., Isaacs, A., Zeemering, S., Bidar, E., Maesen, B., Rienstra, M., van Gelder, I., Verheule, S., Maessen, J. G., & Schotten, U. (2024). Circulating BMP10 Levels Associate With Late Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation and Left Atrial Endomysial Fibrosis. JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology, 10(7), 1326-1340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacep.2024.03.003
    • Gonçalves Marques, V., Gharaviri2, A., Özgül, O., Pezzuto, S., Auricchio, A., Bonizzi, P., Zeemering, S., & Schotten, U. (2024). A novel sequential endocardial mapping strategy for locating atrial fibrillation sources based on repetitive conduction patterns: An in-silico study. Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology Plus, 7, Article 100065. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmccpl.2024.100065
    • Hermans, B., Özgül, O., Wolf, M., Gonçalves Marques, V., van Hunnik, A., Verheule, S., Chaldoupi, M., Linz, D., El Haddad, M., Duytschaever, M., Bonizzi, P., Vernooy, K., Knecht, S., Zeemering, S., & Schotten, U. (2024). Selecting repetitive focal and rotational activation patterns with the highest probability of being a source of atrial fibrillation. Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology Plus, 7, Article 100064. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmccpl.2024.100064