Sjaak Philipsen

Prof. Dr. Sjaak Philipsen serves as an Associate Professor at the Erasmus Medical Center, specializing in Cell Biology within the Faculty of Medicine, Erasmus University Rotterdam. His work focuses on genetic and molecular mechanisms regulating hemoglobin production.

• Key affiliations: Erasmus MC, International Hemoglobinopathy Research Network (INHERENT)

Research Interests:

• Erythropoiesis and hematopoietic differentiation
• Regulation of fetal and embryonic hemoglobin
• Globin gene silencing and enhancer dynamics
• RNA-binding proteins in erythroid proteostasis
• Epigenetic mechanisms in stem cell-derived hematopoiesis
• Genome-wide association studies for hemoglobinopathies

Scientific Contributions:

• Developed cellular reporter systems for fetal hemoglobin research
• Identified key transcription factors (KLF1, GATA1) in globin gene regulation
• Advanced understanding of proteostasis in erythropoiesis
• Explored enhancer-promoter interactions in induced pluripotent stem cell models

Academic Network: Collaborates globally on hemoglobinopathy research, with recent studies involving institutions in the Netherlands, Cyprus, and Germany. Supervised 16 academic works, including student theses and research projects.