Carlijn Bouten is a Professor of Cell-Matrix Interactions in Cardiovascular Regeneration at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), where she leads the research group 'Soft Tissue Engineering & Mechanobiology' within the Department of Biomedical Engineering. She also holds a position in the Electrical Engineering department and is affiliated with the Institute for Complex Molecular Systems. Bouten serves as the coordinator of the national Gravitation program Materials-Driven Regeneration, a major research consortium involving multiple Dutch universities. Her research focuses on the interplay between living cells and their mechanical environment during tissue growth, adaptation, degeneration, and regeneration. She develops living model systems across multiple length scales to quantify these interactions in real-time. Her work has led to innovative approaches for regenerating living tissues, most notably the development of synthetic, biodegradable heart valve prostheses that stimulate the body to create new living heart valves at the implantation site. She is currently exploring hybrid implantable organs, minimally invasive regenerative approaches, and the concept of remote cardiac tissue engineering. Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong focus on cardiovascular tissue engineering, with particular emphasis on heart valve regeneration, biomaterial design, and the mechanobiological cues that drive cellular responses. Her work spans fundamental cell biology investigations to preclinical animal studies, demonstrating a translational research approach from bench to bedside. Key themes include scaffold design, calcification risk assessment, cellular mechanotransduction, and the development of advanced in vitro models that better predict in vivo outcomes. Aspasia Career Development award of the Dutch Science Foundation NWO (2002) VICI grant for established researchers (2003) ERC Advanced grant from the European Research Council (2022) Member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) (2017) Member of AcademiaNet for Outstanding Female Scientists and Scholars in Europe Founding fellow of the European Alliance for Medical and Biological Engineering and Science Prof. Bouten leads a research team of approximately 40 scientists at TU/e and has supervised numerous PhD students throughout her career. She has secured substantial research funding, including coordination of the €18.8 million Gravitation program Materials-Driven Regeneration. Her collaborative approach extends to numerous national and international consortia, including the SUMMIT program 'DRIVE-RM', RegMed-XB's Cardiac Moonshot, and the FET-OPEN 'Hybrid Heart' project. She maintains strong industry connections through medtech spin-offs and collaborates extensively with clinicians to ensure clinical relevance of her research. As director of the Research Center for Materials-Driven Regeneration (MDR), Bouten oversees a partnership between Eindhoven University of Technology, Maastricht University, and Utrecht University with University Medical Center Utrecht and the Hubrecht Institute. The MDR consortium focuses on developing intelligent materials that stimulate tissue and organ regeneration, organized around three research flagships addressing materials at different structural complexity levels.
