University of Groningen
The Clinical Value of HDL Function Measurements Ebtehaj, Sanam
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Ebtehaj, S. (2019). The Clinical Value of HDL Function Measurements. University of Groningen.
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Appendix
Appendix
148
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments
In na payane del angizist,..
When I started to write acknowledgment, I realized that writing my thesis was done and I am going to defend my dissertation in July 2019. But of course, this thesis could never have been achieved without the help of certain people. That is why I would like to seize this opportunity to express my gratitude to all the people who have been of great assistance to me through my PhD journey. Thanks to everybody who helped me during this journey, whether their names are mentioned here or whether I missed it, their contribution has been invaluable to me.
I owe a big thank to Prof. Ingrid Molema. I cannot find the words to appreciate all the continuous help and support. I have to say if it was not because of you I would have been demotivated long ago. You always inspired me to achieve greater goals. Your advice and support motivated me to stick on “MY plan” and work hard. You are not only a great scientist but also a remarkable and respectful individual, and it is my great pleasure to know you and be able to discuss various matters with you. I cannot thank you enough for all your instructions and care in these past few years. Thank you for being supportive, present and available.
I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my promoters Prof. Folkert Kuipers and Prof. Uwe Tietge. I dedicate my most whole-hearted, boundless gratitude, appreciation and admiration to Folkert for all the guidance, inspiration, and support that he gave me. It was an honor to have you as my promoter. Visiting you in Rochester was a valuable meeting that I had. If it was not because of your comments and supervision I wouldn’t have been able to be here today. Thanks for all the comments and critical supervision. Uwe, having the honor to work with you was a truly remarkable and worthwhile experience for me and I always appreciate your empathy, kindness and encouragement that kept me going further. I would also like to thank you for providing me with the opportunity to attend several meetings which were beneficial in broadening my scientific horizons and gaining new insights. Your guidance helped me in all the time of research and writing of this thesis. Still, I want to ask you “WHY”?
I give my gratitude to graduate school (Guide), Dr. Martin Smit, I am highly thankful to you for your help and support during this journey, and without your help I could not have succeeded.
Also, I would like to thank Mathilde, Maaike and Riekje who have always been helpful in tackling all administrative issues.
I am especially grateful to Riekje Banus and Dr. Jacob van den Born during my PhD education for all the support and advice to achieve my goal. Without your help and support I could not solve all the issues that I have faced after I moved to US.
For this dissertation I would like to thank my reading committee members, Prof. Jan Albert
Appendix critically evaluating the research described in this thesis.
I am very grateful to Prof. Marco Harmsen and Prof. Han. Moshage for their invaluable comments and advice.
And special thanks to Prof. Marian Joëls and Prof. Lou de Leij for their support during my PhD.
Special thanks to Prof. Dirk Jan Reijngoud, Prof. Henkjan Verkade, Prof. Bert Groen, Dr. Hans Jonker, Prof. Jan Albert Kuivenhoven, Prof. Klaas Nico Faber, Prof. Barbara Bakker, Dr.
Torsten Plösch, Dr. Maaike Oosterveer, Dr. Janine Kruit, Prof. Bart van de Sluis, Dr. Klary .E.
Niezen-Koning, Prof. Kathrin Thedieck, Prof. Yang-Fu, Dr. Jingyuan Fu and Dr. Marit Westerterp for all their helpful comments, ideas and discussions during weekly meetings.
Thanks Hilde Rozema-Haaksema for all the help and the arrangements even when I was abroad.
I would also like to express my gratitude to my national and international collaborators for their contributions to my projects. Dr. Dullaart, I would like to thank you for providing us patients samples, it was nice to collaborate with you and I am looking forward to publishing our works.
I am highly thankful to lab manager Dolf Raatjes and all technicians in the Kindergeneeskunde and MDL lab that helped me through my PhD. Henk, Renze, Niels, Aycha, Angelika, Bojana, Tjasso, Manon, Trijnie, Theo B, Theo van D, Martijn, Ingrid and Vincent, Janette. Thank you for creating a welcoming atmosphere in the lab. Dear Henk thank you for introducing the lab to me and teaching me how to be precise in diluting samples and analyzing them. Angelika it was nice to work with you in CDP. It was always nice to have a chat with you. Aycha and Niels, thanks for your graceful kindness, friendly guidance, and your help in the cell culture lab.
My profound gratitude to Radioisotope lab; Jan Koerts, Frank Petron and the rest thank you for your welcoming technical support in the radioisotope’s lab. I wish you success in your careers. Frank Petron, thank you for your help with my several huge series of scintillation vials.
You were always helpful.
Great thanks to Henk Mulder from Medical biology lab for providing me the HUVEC cells.
I have to thank my two incredible paranymphs, Shiva and Ali for accepting and doing all the work with book distribution while I was abroad. Thank you for all your help. Dr. Shiva, I am grateful to know you and thank you for your friendship. I wish you the best of best “honey”!
Ali, thank you for accepting to be my paranymph despite the fact that you have your defense just a day before of mine, so Dr. Saeed, I always remember your kindness and hope the best of luck in your next step. I hope your family will always be in joy and love.
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Thanks to my new supervisors Prof. Joerg Herrmann at Mayo Clinic. I am really happy that you gave me the opportunity to develop myself as a researcher in your lab. You encouraged me to finalize my thesis during my fellowship and I am happy that I can continue to do more research in your lab.
My great thanks to Jan Freark, Arne and Wijtske. Thank you for your kind help from even before the beginning of my PhD. Jan Freark thanks for answering all of my questions and all those useful tips.
I am grateful for time spent with office mates and friends in UMCG. You made my time enjoyable and unforgettable. Dear Henk, Arne, Rima, Lidiya, Mirjam, Yu and Onne, thank you for sharing a room with me and making me feel positive every day. Thank you for all the cookies, chocolate and good times. And also, thanks to my old office mates Maurien, Karen and Gijs for creating a great environment when I started my PhD. Rima, I am so happy to meet you and become true friends. Having a cup of coffee and talking to you made me feel great.
Thank you for all great moments! It is a great pleasure and joy to work with you.
Our lab was a special lab I would say. An international, highly dynamic and young lab with a lot of helpful people. These years would not have been this nice and fruitful if it was not because of all my colleagues and lab mates: Violeta, Tim, Ali, Shiva, Dicky, Danial, Sandra, Archi, Fabio, Ana, Johanne, Irene, Brenda, Marleen, Marcela, Vera, Weilin, Floris, Maaike, Sara, Agnieska, Anne Claire, Angela, Ivo, Yared, Turu, Dorieke and people which I might have forgotten their names. Thank you, guys, for creating a great atmosphere and I wish you all the best in future!
Having many friends all over the world makes it so difficult to thank everybody and not to forget anybody. So, thanks to my friends! Soheila and Hadi khan, you have been so supportive in those years that I don't know how to thank you. And now we are in the same continent, which is great! Sara and Javad, Fariba and Saleh, Shabnam and Ali, Mehrnoush and Mohammad, Sima and Hamed, Fahimeh and Mahdi, Wieneke and Jan Renier, Azadeh and Atze, Fareeba and Matthijs, Neda and Mohammad, thank you for your warm friendships. It made my life in Groningen even more wonderful. I know we will keep our great friendship regardless of the distance, but I hope I get the chance to see you again soon! I wish you all the happiness and success. Elnaz and Mehdi khan, thanks for all the great times. I will always remember those times that we spent together when we were the only friends that stayed in Groningen. Najmeh and Kamran, I am so happy to meet you and thanks for all the good times. Reihane and Allahyar khan, I am grateful to you for your loving care and warmth which will always be treasured in my remembrances. We have spent so many unforgettable moments together and I will never ever forget your kindness and generosity.
Living seven years in Groningen was the most beautiful experience that we have had. I am already missing you “Groningen”.
Appendix
Thanks to all my colleges at Mayo Clinic during my fellowship and all the friends in US. Arash, I would like to thank you for all the moments you helped me. Thanks for your existence! I am so happy to have you. You helped me a lot and I cannot thank you enough. I hope our friendship continues forever! I wish success and all the best for you in Yale UniversityJ .
Lastly, I would like to thank my family for all their love and encouragement. For my parents who raised me with a love of science and supported me in all my pursuits. Maman o babaye azizam, mersi az hameye energy e mosbat va tashvighatun ke hamishe hamraham bude va hast. Thanks a lot for all your kindness and support. All the moments I made you stressful and you managed it with patience and care. I love you both, it is difficult to be far away from you, but I am thankful to feel your emotional support always with me. Mamane aziztar az junam, ba inke in salha dorane sakht hamrah ba esteres bud vali vujud shoma hamishe delgarmi baraye man bud. You are my hero! Baba junam, shoma be man yad dadid ke ba dars khundan va hadaf dashtan tu zendegi hamishe be jahayi miresim ke delemun mikhad, man az nasihatha va dastanhaye amuzandeye shoma mamnunam va jayi ke alan istadam be khatere tashvighaye bidarige shoma bude va hast. Shabnam, you are the best sister anybody can have! You are the joy of my life. You always inspire me with all your kindness and love. I love you and I hope you will have whatever you want in your life beside Ali aga and Sadra jun.
A heartfelt thanks to my parents-in-low, mamane azizam and baba janam, with your endless kindness and all of your supports. You always make me so confident of myself with all your kindness, love and compliments. Nemidunam chetor az mohabathaye bipayane shoma gadrdani konam. Az eshge bipayanetun va inke har lahze posht o panahemun budid, binahayat sepasgozaram. Warm thanks to my brothers and sisters (-in-low). Ruhi and Sepideh, Fati and Reza, Mahdi for being so sweet and supportive. I wish you happiness wherever you are.
I wish all of you could be here on my defense, but life can be cruel sometimes.
My beloved Taha, you are the most important part of my life and you remind me on daily basis of what is important in life. Please forgive me for not always being fully present during the past years because of the projects during my PhD journey. I hope I have inspired you that everything is possible. Tahaye golam, I love you to the moon and back. Never ever doubt your ability. Do not be afraid to step outside your comfort zone and remember always to aim high. Live your life with joy, authenticity and honesty. Be kind to yourself and to others.
And most of all for my loving, supportive and encouraging husband Mojtaba, Eshgham, whose faithful supports during all the stages of this PhD is so appreciated. Our love was meant to be, the kind of love to last forever. Thank you for being on my side all the time. Your advice and encouragement made me powerful. You thought me to be strong and fight for right in any situation. I cannot imagine to finish this without you. Thank you for always believing in me and my capacity, even when I sometimes haven't believed in it myself. I never forget your help whether doing experiments on thousands of samples or whether in involving intellectually in our scientific discussion with Uwe. If I want to write about you, it does not fit in two-hundred
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pages. Thank you for giving me work-life balance, adventures, interesting discussions and love.
I am so fortunate. I feel blessed to have you supporting me in every step of my PhD journey.
Thank you for being my light on my way. The least I can do is to dedicate my thesis to “YOU”J.
And thanks to all the people who helped me during this journey.
SaNaM
Publications
The author of this thesis, Sanam Ebtehaj (Tabriz, 1983) obtained her bachelor degree at Tabriz University, Tabriz, Iran. After that, she attended for a year of Life science and technology program at the University of Groningen (The Netherlands). She conducted her PhD research at Department of Pediatrics of University Medical Center Groningen under the supervision of Prof. dr. Folkert Kuipers and Prof. dr. Uwe Tietge. In her research, she studied the clinical value of HDL Function measurements in health and disease and the results of her work are described in this thesis. Meanwhile, she joined Mayo Clinic as a research fellow. After obtaining her PhD, she will continue working as a post-doctoral research fellow in the Cardiovascular Department at Mayo Clinic.
List of Publications
– S. Ebtehaj, J.R. Nofer*, and U.J. F. Tietge*. HDL function measurements provide clinical information independent of established cardiovascular risk metrics - a cross-sectional study from the PROCAM-CT cohort. (In preparation)
– M. Pedrelli, P. Stenvinkel, M. E. Minniti, E. Krüss, A. Dikkers, S. Ebtehaj, M. Gomaraschi, P. Barany, A. R. Qureshi, G. Camejo, B. Lindholm, K. Öörni, U. Tietge, L. Calabresi, E Hurt-Camejo, P. Parini. Decreased glomerular filtration rate in chronic kidney disease patients is associated with changes in plasma LDL and HDL that can be atherogenic.
(Submitted)
– S. Ebtehaj*, E. G. Gruppen*, Stephan J.L. Bakker, Robin P. F. Dullaart*, U. J. F. Tietge*.
HDL cholesterol efflux capacity is associated with incident cardiovascular disease in the general population – a case-control study from the PREVEND cohort. (Under revision)
– F. Wang, I. Vuckovic, S. Zhang, R. Jeon, S. Ebtehaj, X. Jiang, A. Lerman, C. D. Folmes, P.
D. Dzeja, J. Herrmann. Inflammatory cytokine/chemokine production in mouse and human macrophages and carotid artery plaques - functional significance of the metabolic switch. (Under revision)
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Appendix
– L.J. Leberkühne*, S. Ebtehaj*, L. Dimova, A. Dikkers, R.P.F. Dullaart, S.J.L. Bakker, U.J.F.
Tietge. The predictive value of the anti-oxidative function of HDL for cardiovascular disease and graft failure in renal transplant recipients. Atherosclerosis. 2016 Jun;
249:181-5.
– C. Kopecky*, S. Ebtehaj*, B Genser, C. Drechsler, V. Krane, M. Antlanger, J.J. Kovarik, C.C. Kaltenecker, M. Parvizi, C. Wanner, T. Weichhart, M.D. Säemann*, U.J.F. Tietge*.
HDL cholesterol efflux does not predict cardiovascular risk in hemodialysis patients. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2017 Mar; 28(3):769-775.
– S. Ebtehaj, E. G. Gruppen, M. Parvizi, U.J.F. Tietge*, R. P.F. Dullaart*. The anti- inflammatory function of HDL is impaired in type 2 diabetes: the role of hyperglycemia, paraoxonase-1, and low-grade inflammation. Cardiovasc Diabetol. 2017 Oct 12;
16(1):132.
– E. H. van den Berg, E. G. Gruppen, S. Ebtehaj, S. J.L. Bakker, U.J.F. Tietge*, R. P.F.
Dullaart*. Cholesterol efflux capacity is impaired in subjects with an elevated Fatty Liver Index, a proxy of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Atherosclerosis. 2018 Oct;277:21-27.
*These authors contributed equally
