Lymphoma Research Groningen @ Dutch Hematology Congress 2026 Papendal

Last week several researchers visited and presented their exciting work at the 18th Dutch Hematology Congress at the Papendal Congress Center. This included the work of  Diana Al-Sarayfi, Nick Veltmaat, Haiying Mo, Yajie Lei and Rodrigo Martinez Alcala.

On the 15th of October Dr Johanna Bult received her PhD degree after defending her thesis titled “Drivers of B-cell lymphoma”. Johanna was guided by a team consisting of Dr Marcel Nijland, Dr. Mirian Brink, Prof Edwin Bremer and Prof Anke van den Berg. As a next step in her career, Johanna will soon start a specialization as medical doctor.

On July 10th Dr Yujie Zhong received her PhD degree after defending her thesis titled “Circulating Tumor DNA in Aggressive B-Cell Lymphomas: Tumor Cell Characterization and Disease Dynamics”. Yujie was guided by a team consisting of Dr Marcel Nijland, Dr Wouter Plattel, Prof Arjan Diepstra and Prof Anke van den Berg. As a next step in her career, Yujie recently accepted a job as a postdoc in China.

On December 6th Anke van den Berg was invited by the Koninklijk Natuurkundig Genootschap (KNG) to lecture on this years Nobel prize winners in Physiology or Medicine awarded to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for “the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation”. Her lecture can be viewed here (in Dutch).

On the 20th of November Dr Yujia Pan (“Penny”) received her PhD degree after defending her thesis titled “Functional microRNA screens in classic Hodgkin lymphoma: from surface marker regulation to brentuximab vedotin resistance”. Yujie was guided by a team consisting of Dr Joost Kluiver, Prof Arjan Diepstra and Prof Anke van den Berg. As a next step in her career, Yujia recently accepted a job as a postdoc in China.

At the International Symposium on Hodgkin Lymphoma (ISHL13) in Cologne October 26-28 2024 several group members presented their latest results, chaired sessions, and presented prizes. Sophie Teesink was awarded a poster prize for her poster on the use of TARC as a biomarker for early detection or exclusion of relapse in classic Hodgkin lymphoma.

Welcome – ISHL13 – International Symposium on Hodgkin Lymphoma (hodgkinsymposium.org)

On the 26^th of June a first version of the RNA matchmaking game has gone live on a German Gaming Portal. It can be played both on PC and on you mobile phone (landscape). This is a citizen science game which means that while you are gaming you are also benefiting science. In this game you can help our studies by finding the best targets for a specific small RNA molecule called microRNA-150. We found that this small RNA molecule plays an important role in B-cell lymphoma but we don’t now how exactly. We hope the gaming community can help by playing this game and find how and where this RNA molecule binds to other RNAs and so help explain how this RNA molecule functions. This game is the joint work of the game developing team at https://gamesforhealth.net/ and members of LRG Anke van den Berg and Joost Kluiver.

Currently this game can be played via this link (German): https://www.jetztspielen.de/spiel/unmask-lymphoma-part-1-rna-matching

On 21st of June Shiyun Hu presented her work on circZDHHC11 at the 5th International Conference on the Long and the Short of Non-Coding RNAs in Crete, Greece. In recognition of her work she was awarded with a travel award.

During the 5th International Conference on the Long and the Short of Non-Coding RNAs Nohora Rueda Forero presented a poster on the role of EBV derived miRNAs in Hodgkin Lymphoma and Penny Pan on the identification of miR-590 as an important regulator of CD30 expression and Brentuximab-Vedotin resistance.

At the EHA2024 LRG members Wouter Plattel presented SERUM TARC COMBINED WITH FDG-PET IMAGING IMPROVES INTERIM RESPONSE EVALUATION IN CLASSIC HODGKIN LYMPHOMA: A RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF GERMAN HODGKIN STUDY GROUP HD16 AND HD18 TRIALS and Marcel Nijland on FEASIBILITY AND CLINICAL EFFICACY OF ATEZOLIZUMAB CONSOLIDATION IN HIGH RISK DIFFUSE LARGE B-CELL LYMPHOMA: FINAL ANALYSIS OF THE HOVON 151  . Both studies and others were further discussed by Wouter Plattel at EHA 2024 MEDtalks and can be viewed here.