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Uyên Châu Nguyên wins UM Dissertation Prize 2025

Uyên Châu Nguyên wins UM Dissertation Prize 2025

29 January 2026

During the Dies Natalis of Maastricht University, Uyên Châu Nguyên received the UM Dissertation Prize 2025.

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Global research network launched to study menopause and heart health

Global research network launched to study menopause and heart health

20 January 2026

Ten international health research funders, including the Dutch Heart Foundation, are investing $10 million in a new global research network to improve early prevention of cardiovascular disease in women. The initiative focuses on understanding how menopause affects heart health and how early intervention can reduce risk.

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Carim Maastricht
Carim Maastricht

Bart Spronck

Assistant Professor

Dr Bart Spronck is Assistant Professor in the field of arterial biomechanics at CARIM. As a multidisciplinary researcher, Bart aims to combine and integrate clinical and engineering research. Bart is committed to disentangling the problem of arterial stiffening, by studying it structurally and functionally, pre-clinically as well as clinically. The combination of state-of-the-art measurement techniques with constitutive computer modelling enables him to mechanically understand the changes occurring in the ageing arterial wall.

Bart studied Medical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology, where he obtained his MSc degree in 2011. He spent the last year of his MSc programme at Dept. of Biomedical Engineering at CARIM, where, after a one-year Kootstra Talent Fellowship, he started his PhD on arterial stiffening in 2012. After obtaining his PhD (2016) and a short, second Kootstra Talent Fellowship thereafter, he joined the lab of Prof Alberto Avolio at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia as a postdoc on a six-month Endeavour Fellowship. On this fellowship, he studied the heart rate and blood pressure dependence of arterial stiffness. In 2017, Bart moved to the United States to join the lab of Prof Jay Humphrey at Yale University, for which he obtained funding through NWO Rubicon and Marie Curie Individual – Global Fellowships. At Yale, he worked on the biomechanical characterisation of aortic remodelling in hypertension, ageing, and Marfan syndrome. As of 2021, Bart is back at CARIM as an Assistant Professor, where he is studying arterial stiffening in hypertension, diabetes, and other disease models. As of 2022, Bart is also an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Macquarie University, Sydney Australia.

During his career, Bart has developed a novel, state-of-the-art experimental testing set-up (DynamX, http://www.dynamx.info) for in vitro testing of arteries under tightly-controlled pulsatile conditions. By combining the data from this set-up with constitutive modelling of the artery wall, Bart has established the importance of pulsatile loading on arterial mechanics, and is able to unravel the individual arterial layers’ and components’ contributions to overall arterial mechanics. Bart collaborates with many researchers within CARIM as well as beyond, to use DynamX to characterise arterial mechanics in a variety of diseases.

Bart is Chair of the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) Working Group on Large Arteries, Executive Committee member of the ARTERY Society, Editorial Board Member of Artery Research, and member of two Working Groups of EU COST action 18216 VascAgeNet.

Bartspronck

Department of Biomedical Engineering
Universiteitssingel 50, 6229 ER Maastricht
PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht
Room number: H3.356
T: +31 43 388 1657

  • 2025
    • Parikh, S., Reesink, K. D., Spronck, B., Delhaas, T., & Giudici, A. (2025). Impact of Dynamic Axial Stretching on the Arterial Pulse Wave Velocity: Physical Foundation and Clinical Implications. Annals of Biomedical Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-025-03940-7
    • van der Laan, K. W. F., Neutel, C. H. G., Pencheva, M. G., Wesley, C. D., Krüger, D. N., Schalwijk, C. G., De Meyer, G. R. Y., Martinet, W., Reesink, K. D., Delhaas, T., Giudici, A., Guns, P.-J., & Spronck, B. (2025). Vascular aging impairs active modulation of murine aortic stiffness by smooth muscle cells. American Journal of Physiology-Cell Physiology, 329(5), C1398-C1410. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpcell.00387.2025
    • Bruno, R. M., Badhwar, S., Abid, L., Agharazii, M., Anastasio, F., Bellien, J., Burghuber, O., Faconti, L., Filipovsky, J., Ghiadoni, L., Giannattasio, C., Hametner, B., Hughes, A. D., Jeroncic, A., Ikonomidis, I., Lonnebakken, M. T., Maloberti, A., Mayer, C. C., Muiesan, M. L., ... CARTESIAN Investigators (2025). Accelerated vascular ageing after COVID-19 infection: the CARTESIAN study. European Heart Journal, 46(39), 3905-3918. Article ehaf7019. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehaf430
    • Giudici, A., Robberechts, T., Kadziela, J., Stoenoiu, M. S., Delmotte, P., Donkers, K. M., van Leeuwen, J. E., Toubiana, L., Januszewicz, A., Januszewicz, M., Persu, A., & Spronck, B. (2025). Non-invasive evaluation of the hemodynamic significance of renal artery stenosis in fibromuscular dysplasia through quantitative image analysis. Kardiologia Polska. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.33963/v.phj.108870
    • van der Bruggen, M. M., van Greevenbroek, M. M. J., Spronck, B., Stehouwer, C. D. A., Delhaas, T., Reesink, K. D., & Schalkwijk, C. G. (2025). Plasma reactive dicarbonyls are not independently associated with arterial stiffness: The Maastricht Study. American Journal of Hypertension, 38(10), 777-787. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajh/hpaf068
    • Van den Eynde, M. D. G., van der Bruggen, M. M., Houben, A. J. H. M., Reesink, K. D., Spronck, B., Delhaas, T., Scheijen, J. J. L. J. M., Miyata, T., & Schalkwijk, C. G. (2025). Pyridoxamine does not reduce arterial stiffness in an 8-week randomized double-blind placebo-controlled intervention trial with abdominally obese individuals. Diabetes Obesity & Metabolism, 27(9), 5332-5336. https://doi.org/10.1111/dom.16524
    • Ganizada, B. H., Reesink, K. D., Parikh, S., Saraber, P. J. M. H., Cleutjens, J. P., Isabella, A., Krebbekx, M. Q. E., Jaminon, A. M., Maassen, C. F. M., Ramaekers, M. J. F. G., Spronck, B., van der Laan, K., Koenen, R. R., Lorusso, R., Maessen, J. G., Bidar, E., & Schurgers, L. J. (2025). Loss of wall stress homeostasis in ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm: histomorphometric insights into patient variants. The Journal of Physiology, 603(14), 3899-3922. https://doi.org/10.1113/JP288734
    • Pencheva, M. G., Berends, E., van der Laan, K. W. F., Giudici, A., Niessen, P., Scheijen, J. L. J. M., Vangrieken, P., Leenders, P., Delhaas, T., Caiment, F., Kutmon, M., Trujillo, F. M., Wouters, K., Foulquier, S., Spronck, B., Reesink, K. D., & Schalkwijk, C. G. (2025). Glyoxalase-1 overexpression attenuates arterial wall stiffening in diabetic mice. Cardiovascular Diabetology, 24(1), Article 283. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12933-025-02823-4
    • Tavolinejad, H., Boczar, K. E., Spronck, B., Maynard, H., Bertoni, A. G., Shah, S. J., & Chirinos, J. A. (2025). Determinants of Cardio-Ankle Vascular Index and Heart-Thigh β Index in the MESA: The MESA. Hypertension, 82(6), 1081-1094. https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.124.23970
    • Giudici, A., Grillo, A., Scalise, F., Reesink, K. D., Delhaas, T., Salvi, P., Spronck, B., & Parati, G. (2025). Beat-to-beat variability of aortic pulse wave velocity: Implications for aortic stiffness measurements. Journal of Hypertension, 43(4), 589-597. Article 3935. https://doi.org/10.1097/HJH.0000000000003935
    • van Loo, C., Toonen, S. M. R. L., Schurgers, L. J., Delhaas, T., & Spronck, B. (2025). Human Aortic Vasoreactivity in Response to Various Stimuli: A Review. Pulse, 13(1), 121-139. https://doi.org/10.1159/000547617
    • Neutel, C. H. G., van der Laan, K. W. F., Wesley, C. D., Krueger, D. N., Pencheva, M. G., Schalkwijk, C. G., De Meyer, G. R. Y., Martinet, W., Delhaas, T., Reesink, K. D., Giudici, A., Guns, P.-J., & Spronck, B. (2025). The MAASWERP Study: An International, Comparative Case Study on Measuring Biomechanics of the Aged Murine Aorta. Pulse, 13(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1159/000542694
  • 2024
    • Zanelli, S., Agnoletti, D., Alastruey, J., Allen, J., Bianchini, E., Bikia, V., Boutouyrie, P., Bruno, R. M., Climie, R., Djamaleddine, D., Gkaliagkousi, E., Giudici, A., Gopcevic, K., Grillo, A., Guala, A., Hametner, B., Joseph, J., Karimpour, P., Kodithuwakku, V., ... Charlton, P. H. (2024). Developing technologies to assess vascular ageing: a roadmap from VascAgeNet. Physiological Measurement, 45(12), Article 121001. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6579/ad548e
    • Forrest, M., Matossian, M., Valdes Sustaita, B., Papacostas Quintanilla, H., Spronck, B., Sharman, J., & Daskalopoulou, S. S. (2024). Arterial stiffness as a novel tool for the early prediction of preeclampsia: a perspective. Journal of Human Hypertension, 38(11), 745-749. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41371-024-00967-6
    • Neutel, C. H. G., Wesley, C. D., van Loo, C., Civati, C., Mertens, F., Zurek, M., Verhulst, A., Pintelon, I., De Vos, W. H., Spronck, B., Roth, L., De Meyer, G. R. Y., Martinet, W., & Guns, P. J. (2024). Calciprotein particles induce arterial stiffening ex vivo and impair vascular cell function. Communications Biology, 7(1), Article 1241. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06895-y
    • Giudici, A., Szafron, J. M., Ramachandra, A. B., & Spronck, B. (2024). Instability in Computational Models of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Contraction. Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 52(9), 2403-2416. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-024-03532-x
    • Parikh, S., Giudici, A., Huberts, W., Delhaas, T., Bidar, E., Spronck, B., & Reesink, K. (2024). Significance of Dynamic Axial Stretching on Estimating Biomechanical Behavior and Properties of the Human Ascending Aorta. Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 52(9), 2485-2495. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-024-03537-6
    • Cavinato, C., Spronck, B., Caulk, A. W., Murtada, S.-I., & Humphrey, J. D. (2024). AT1b receptors contribute to regional disparities in angiotensin II mediated aortic remodelling in mice. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 21(217), Article 20240110. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2024.0110
    • van der Bruggen, M., Spronck, B., Bos, S., Heusinkveld, M. H. G., Taddei, S., Ghiadoni, L., Delhaas, T., Maria Bruno, R., & Reesink, K. D. (2024). Correction to: Pressure-Corrected Carotid Stiffness and Young's Modulus. American Journal of Hypertension, 37(7), 541-542. Article hpae037. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajh/hpae037
    • van der Laan, K. W. F., Reesink, K. D., Lambrichts, S., Bitsch, N. J. J. E., van der Taelen, L., Foulquier, S., Delhaas, T., Spronck, B., & Giudici, A. (2024). Effect of rapid cooling, frozen storage, and thawing on the passive viscoelastic properties and structure of the rat aorta. Journal of Biomechanics, 171, Article 112190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2024.112190
    • Hopper, S. E., Weiss, D., Mikush, N., Jiang, B., Spronck, B., Cavinato, C., Humphrey, J. D., & Figueroa, C. A. (2024). Central Artery Hemodynamics in Angiotensin II-Induced Hypertension and Effects of Anesthesia. Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 52(4), 1051-1066. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-024-03440-0
    • Spronck, B., Terentes-Printzios, D., Avolio, A. P., Boutouyrie, P., Guala, A., Jeroncic, A., Laurent, S., Barbosa, E. C. D., Baulmann, J., Chen, C.-H., Chirinos, J. A., Daskalopoulou, S. S., Hughes, A. D., Mahmud, A., Mayer, C. C., Park, J. B., Pierce, G. L., Schutte, A. E., Urbina, E. M., ... Society for Arterial Stiffness—Germany-Austria-Switzerland (DeGAG) (2024). 2024 Recommendations for Validation of Noninvasive Arterial Pulse Wave Velocity Measurement Devices. Hypertension, 81(1), 183-192. https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.123.21618
    • Niestrawska, J. A., Spronck, B., Cavinato, C., & Humphrey, J. D. (2024). Tempol improves aortic mechanics in a mouse model of hypertension. Journal of Biomechanics, 162, Article 111911. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2023.111911
    • Spronck, B., & Giudici, A. (2024). Towards a more widespread clinical use of cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) and CAVI0: Defining reference values in healthy Russians. American Journal of Hypertension, 37(1), 21-23. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajh/hpad092
    • Spronck, B., Sharman, J. E., & Daskalopoulou, S. S. (2024). Author reply. Bjog-an International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 131(2), 239-240. https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-0528.17682
  • 2023
    • Mancia Chairperson, G., Kreutz Co-Chair, R., Brunström, M., Burnier, M., Grassi, G., Januszewicz, A., Muiesan, M. L., Tsioufis, K., Agabiti-Rosei, E., Algharably, E. A. E., Azizi, M., Benetos, A., Borghi, C., Hitij, J. B., Cifkova, R., Coca, A., Cornelissen, V., Cruickshank, K., Cunha, P. G., ... Zhang, Z.-Y. (2023). 2023 ESH Guidelines for the management of arterial hypertension The Task Force for the management of arterial hypertension of the European Society of Hypertension: Endorsed by the International Society of Hypertension (ISH) and the European Renal Association (ERA). Journal of Hypertension, 41(12), 1874-2071. https://doi.org/10.1097/HJH.0000000000003480
    • Roth, L., Dogan, S., Tuna, B. G., Aranyi, T., Benitez, S., Borrell-Pages, M., Bozaykut, P., De Meyer, G. R. Y., Duca, L., Durmus, N., Fonseca, D., Fraenkel, E., Gillery, P., Giudici, A., Jaisson, S., Johansson, M., Julve, J., Lucas-Herald, A. K., Martinet, W., ... Anacak, G. Y. (2023). Pharmacological modulation of vascular ageing: a review from VascAgeNet. Ageing research reviews, 92(1), Article 102122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2023.102122
    • Giudici, A., van der Laan, K. W. F., van der Bruggen, M. M., Parikh, S., Berends, E., Foulquier, S., Delhaas, T., Reesink, K. D., & Spronck, B. (2023). Constituent-based quasi-linear viscoelasticity: a revised quasi-linear modelling framework to capture nonlinear viscoelasticity in arteries. Biomechanics and modeling in mechanobiology, 22(5), 1607–1623. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10237-023-01711-8
    • Murtada, S.-I., Kawamura, Y., Cavinato, C., Wang, M., Ramachandra, A. B., Spronck, B., Li, D. S., Tellides, G., & Humphrey, J. D. (2023). Biomechanical and transcriptional evidence that smooth muscle cell death drives an osteochondrogenic phenotype and severe proximal vascular disease in progeria. Biomechanics and modeling in mechanobiology, 22(4), 1333-1347. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10237-023-01722-5
    • Giudici, A., Spronck, B., Wilkinson, I. B., & Khir, A. W. (2023). Tri-layered constitutive modelling unveils functional differences between the pig ascending and lower thoracic aorta. Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 141(1), Article 105752. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2023.105752
    • Pewowaruk, R. J., Colebank, M. J., Spronck, B., Korcarz, C. E., & Gepner, A. D. (2023). Biomechanics models predict increasing smooth muscle tone as a novel therapeutic target for central arterial dysfunction in hypertension. Journal of Hypertension, 41(4), 572-579. https://doi.org/10.1097/HJH.0000000000003370
    • Nemcsik, J., Mayer, C. C., Guala, A., Terentes-Printzios, D., & Spronck, B. (2023). Editorial: Widely used and novel approaches of the measurement of arterial stiffness and central hemodynamic parameters: Is there a consensus on the horizon?Frontiers in physiology, 14(1), Article 1167257. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1167257
    • van Loo, C., Giudici, A., & Spronck, B. (2023). Correction: Potential adverse effects of vasodilatory antihypertensive medication on vascular stiffness in elderly individuals. Hypertension Research, 46(2), Article 552. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41440-022-01118-5
    • Helleputte, S., Spronck, B., Sharman, J. E., Van Bortel, L., Segers, P., Calders, P., Lapauw, B., & De Backer, T. (2023). Central blood pressure estimation in type 1 diabetes: impact and implications of peripheral calibration method. Journal of Hypertension, 41(1), 115-121. https://doi.org/10.1097/HJH.0000000000003308
    • Malik, A. E. F., Giudici, A., van der Laan, K. W. F., Op 't Roodt, J., Mess, W. H., Delhaas, T., Spronck, B., & Reesink, K. D. (2023). Detectable Bias between Vascular Ultrasound Echo-Tracking Systems: Relevance Depends on Application. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 12(1), Article 69. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12010069
  • 2022
    • Park, J. B., Sharman, J. E., Li, Y., Munakata, M., Shirai, K., Chen, C. H., Jae, S. Y., Tomiyama, H., Kosuge, H., Bruno, R. M., Spronck, B., Kario, K., Lee, H. Y., Cheng, H. M., Wang, J. G., Budoff, M., Townsend, R., & Avolio, A. P. (2022). Expert Consensus on the Clinical Use of Pulse Wave Velocity in Asia. Pulse, 10(1-4), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1159/000528208
    • van Loo, C., Giudici, A., & Spronck, B. (2022). Potential adverse effects of vasodilatory antihypertensive medication on vascular stiffness in elderly individuals. Hypertension Research, 45(12), 2024-2027. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41440-022-01012-0
    • Zhang, E., Spronck, B., Humphrey, J. D., & Karniadakis, G. E. (2022). G2Φnet: Relating genotype and biomechanical phenotype of tissues with deep learning. PLoS Computational Biology, 18(10), e1010660. Article e1010660. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010660
    • Spronck, B. (2022). Arterial stiffness on a different scale. European Heart Journal - Digital Health, 3(3), 359-361. https://doi.org/10.1093/ehjdh/ztac036
    • Spronck, B., Ramachandra, A. B., Moriyama, L., Toczek, J., Han, J. A., Sadeghi, M. M., & Humphrey, J. D. (2022). Deletion of matrix metalloproteinase-12 compromises mechanical homeostasis and leads to an aged aortic phenotype in young mice. Journal of Biomechanics, 141, Article 111179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2022.111179
    • Giudici, A., & Spronck, B. (2022). The Role of Layer-Specific Residual Stresses in Arterial Mechanics: Analysis via a Novel Modelling Framework. Artery Research, 28(2), 41-54. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44200-022-00013-1
    • Athaide, C. E., Spronck, B., & Au, J. S. (2022). Physiological basis for longitudinal motion of the arterial wall. American Journal of Physiology-heart and Circulatory Physiology, 322(5), H689-H701. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpheart.00567.2021
    • Spronck, B., Obeid, M. J., Paravathaneni, M., Gadela, N. V., Singh, G., Magro, C. A., Kulkarni, V., Kondaveety, S., Gade, K. C., Bhuva, R., Kulick-Soper, C. M., Sanchez, N., Akers, S., & Chirinos, J. A. (2022). Predictive Ability of Pressure-Corrected Arterial Stiffness Indices: Comparison of Pulse Wave Velocity, Cardio-Ankle Vascular Index (CAVI), and CAVI0. American Journal of Hypertension, 35(3), 272-280. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajh/hpab168
    • Giudici, A., & Spronck, B. (2022). A first step towards recognizing the fundamental role of smooth muscle tone in large artery (dys)function?Journal of Hypertension, 40(3), 422-424. https://doi.org/10.1097/HJH.0000000000003063
    • van der Laan, K. W. F., Reesink, K. D., van der Bruggen, M. M., Jaminon, A. M. G., Schurgers, L. J., Megens, R. T. A., Huberts, W., Delhaas, T., & Spronck, B. (2022). Improved Quantification of Cell Density in the Arterial Wall-A Novel Nucleus Splitting Approach Applied to 3D Two-Photon Laser-Scanning Microscopy. Frontiers in physiology, 12, Article 814434. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.814434
  • 2021
    • Malik, A. E. F., Delhaas, T., Spronck, B., Henry, R. M. A., Joseph, J., Stehouwer, C. D. A., Mess, W. H., & Reesink, K. D. (2021). Single M-Line Is as Reliable as Multiple M-Line Ultrasound for Carotid Artery Screening. Frontiers in physiology, 12, Article 787083. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.787083
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