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Catheter treatment is not only effective, but also cost-effective for ischemic stroke

Catheter treatment is not only effective, but also cost-effective for ischemic stroke

29 September 2026

With ischemic stroke, every minute counts. However, many patients do not seek hospital care until it is too late, for example, because symptoms are not immediately recognized or because people wake up with signs of neurological deficits. As a result, a group of patients is no longer eligible for catheter treatment. 

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Platelets: more than a band-aid

Platelets: more than a band-aid

23 September 2026

Some processes in our body might seem obvious to us. If you cut your finger, the bleeding will stop shortly and form a scab. Behind that seemingly simple process hides a sophisticated system of platelets and clotting factors. By now, we know that platelets do much more than halt bleeding: they function as information carriers and regulators of disease processes. 

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Carim Maastricht
Carim Maastricht

Elisa d'Alessandro

Post doc

Dr Elisa D’Alessandro obtained a joint Master’s degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Siena (Italy) and the Bristol Heart Institute (UK) in 2016.

In 2017, she started her PhD at the Department of Biochemistry at CARIM, where her research focused on the interplay between atrial fibrillation and hypercoagulability. She obtained her PhD in 2022 and subsequently joined the research group of Dr Eringa at the Department of Physiology as a postdoctoral researcher, where she expanded her research focus to organ-specific adipose tissue biology and diabetes.

In 2025, she was awarded a Junior Dekker Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Dutch Heart Foundation for her research on the role of adipose tissue in atrial fibrillation. As part of this fellowship, she joined the Department of Physiology at CARIM as a staff member in the group of Prof. Schotten, where she continues to investigate the interplay between adipose tissue, metabolism, and cardiovascular disease.

Elisa is a translational scientist studying inter-organ and inter-tissue crosstalk in the pathophysiology of atrial fibrillation (AF), with a focus on the cellular mechanisms that drive its onset and progression. Her research examines the interplay between the blood coagulation system, atrial tissue, and cardiac adipose tissue. Through her Dekker Fellowship, she investigates how local interactions between the atrial myocardium, epicardial fat, and the blood coagulation contribute to the development of a structural submstrate for AF progression. Her work combines spatial transcriptomics of patient cardiac samples with complementary in vivo and in vitro experimental models.

In 2026, Elisa was awarded the Anna Maria van Schurman Stipendium from CARIM. This funding allows her to expand her spatial transcriptomics research by integrating advanced spatial proteomics and metabolic imaging to map the crosstalk between atrial tissue and cardiac fat within their native tissue context. By resolving these interactions in situ, her work aims to reveal how they evolve over time and contribute to the development of atrial cardiomyopathy.

Elisa

Department of Phsysiology 
Universiteitssingel 50, 6229 ER Maastricht 
Room number F3.132

  • 2026
    • D'alessandro, E., Scaf, B., Opacic, D., van Hunnik, A., Sobota, V., Kuiper, M., Viola, M., Hutschalik, T., Langione, M., Pioner, J. M., Munts, C., Simons, J., Winters, J., Isaacs, A., Heitmeier, S., Stoll, M., van Oerle, R., Ten Cate, H., Spronk, H. M. H., ... Schotten, U. (2026). Rivaroxaban Treatment Prevents Atrial Myocyte Hypertrophy in Goats with Persistent Atrial Fibrillation by Inhibition of Protease-Activated Receptor-1. Thrombosis and Haemostasis. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1055/a-2761-6106
  • 2025
    • Mourmans, S. G. J., Achten, A., Hermans, R., Scheepers, M. J. E., D'Alessandro, E., Swennen, G., Woudstra, J., Appelman, Y., Goor, H. V., Schalkwijk, C., Knackstedt, C., Weerts, J., Eringa, E. C., & van Empel, V. P. M. (2025). The effect of empagliflozin on peripheral microvascular dysfunction in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Cardiovascular Diabetology, 24(1), Article 182. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12933-025-02679-8
  • 2024
    • 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
  • 2022
    • D'Alessandro, E., Winters, J., van Nieuwenhoven, F. A., Schotten, U., & Verheule, S. (2022). The Complex Relation between Atrial Cardiomyopathy and Thrombogenesis. Cells, 11(19), Article 2963. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells11192963
  • 2021
    • D'Alessandro, E., Scaf, B., van Oerle, R., van Nieuwenhoven, F. A., van Hunnik, A., Verheule, S., Schotten, U., Ten Cate, H., & Spronk, H. M. H. (2021). Thrombin generation by calibrated automated thrombography in goat plasma: Optimization of an assay. Research and practice in thrombosis and haemostasis, 5(8), Article e12620. https://doi.org/10.1002/rth2.12620
    • D'Alessandro, E., Scaf, B., Munts, C., van Hunnik, A., Trevelyan, C. J., Verheule, S., Spronk, H. M. H., Turner, N. A., ten Cate, H., Schotten, U., & van Nieuwenhoven, F. A. (2021). Coagulation Factor Xa Induces Proinflammatory Responses in Cardiac Fibroblasts via Activation of Protease-Activated Receptor-1. Cells, 10(11), Article 2958. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells10112958
  • 2020
    • d'Alessandro, E., Becker, C., Bergmeier, W., Bode, C., Bourne, J. H., Brown, H., Buller, H. R., ten Cate-Hoek, A. J., ten Cate, V., van Cauteren, Y. J. M., Cheung, Y. F. H., Cleuren, A., Coenen, D., Crijns, H. J. G. M., de Simone, I., Dolleman, S. C., Klein, C. E., Fernandez, D. I., Granneman, L., ... Scientific Reviewer Committee (2020). Thrombo-Inflammation in Cardiovascular Disease: An Expert Consensus Document from the Third Maastricht Consensus Conference on Thrombosis. Thrombosis and Haemostasis, 120(4), 538-564. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0040-1708035
  • 2018
    • D'Alessandro, E., Posma, J. J. N., Spronk, H. M. H., & ten Cate, H. (2018). Tissue factor (:Factor VIIa) in the heart and vasculature: More than an envelope. Thrombosis Research, 168, 130-137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.thromres.2018.06.020
    • Spronk, H. M. H., Padro, T., Siland, J. E., Prochaska, J. H., Winters, J., van der Wal, A. C., Posthuma, J. J., Lowe, G., d'Alessandro, E., Wenzel, P., Coenen, D. M., Reitsma, P. H., Ruf, W., van Gorp, R. H., Koenen, R. R., Vajen, T., Alshaikh, N. A., Wolberg, A. S., Macrae, F. L., ... ten Cate, H. (2018). Atherothrombosis and Thromboembolism: Position Paper from the Second Maastricht Consensus Conference on Thrombosis. Thrombosis and Haemostasis, 118(2), 229-250. https://doi.org/10.1160/TH17-07-0492
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