Regenerative Urology Utrecht
Urinary tract symptoms are common and have major impact on quality of life. We focus on the male urethra. Our aim is to generate treatment options by regenerative medicine. Our mission is to create laboratory grown tissue for urethral reconstruction.
The Regenerative urology laboratory in the Regenerative Medicine Center Utrecht (RMCU) is closely linked to the clinical urology department at the UMCU. Together we synergistically work to improve treatment options for urinary tract problems, with special focus on urethral diseases in men: around 50 thousand men in the Netherlands are affected by this. The approach and composition of the team (the combination of backgrounds, focus on vascularization of the engineered tissue, use of residual patient material and access to animal experiments) makes our group unique.
In the RMCU we share facilities and research meetings, to ensure collaboration between groups. Via Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society we disseminate our research on their meetings and on clinically congresses (like the European Association of Urology and the International Continence Society). Our department is member of the European reference network eUROGEN and a specialized referral center for urethral reconstructive surgery. We have been involved since 2014 in the focus area Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cells of the UMCU.
Three PhD students are working on the overarching theme ‘Tissue engineering for urethral reconstruction’.
From February 2025 a postdoc has started in our group, supported by the Horizon Europe consortium . This project aims to pioneer advancements in medical research through cutting-edge bioprinting technology, which enables the creation of tissue constructs with precise cell composition, structure, and mechanical properties. The target tissue of the consortium is the male urethra and corpus spongiosum. Furthermore, our research is supported by internal starting grant and a grant from the animal welfare committee Utrecht in 2020 (urethra on a chip).
Contact for internships
Dr. Petra de Graaf: P.deGraaf-4@umcutrecht.nl
People
Name | Position | Information/Contact |
Laetitia de Kort | Full professor | |
Petra de Graaf | Assistant professor | |
Isabelle Martinier | Postdoc | |
Zhentao Xing | PhD student | & |
Jiaxin Qin | PhD student | |
Xiaohe Liu | PhD student | |
Michel Wyndaele | Urologist, UD | |
George Tsachouridis | Pediatric urologist/PhD student |