News

Below you will find our news items: what are we doing at the moment? In which other media are we mentioned?

First heart tissue released for research

A milestone for the Hartenbank: the very first heart tissue has been issued to Renee Maas, researcher at UMC Utrecht. She will use this tissue for her research. Our biobank employee Maureen van der Arend hands over her the material.

Renee Maas says: “I am researching the genetic heart muscle disease PLN. With the help of the Hartenbank, hearts of carriers with this mutation and without this heart disease are made available. These hearts are crucial for studying the (still) healthy phase of the disease. They can give us insights into the course of the disease and can give possible treatment strategies.”

Wiek van Gilst Collaboration Award 2023

The prestigious Wiek van Gilst Collaboration Award was bestowed at the DCVA/NLHI conference. This year, the Hartenbank for being announced as the winner of the Wiek van Gilst Collaboration Award 2023.

We would like to thank the Dutch CardioVascular Alliance, Netherlands Heart Institute, PLN Foundation and the Dutch Heart Foundation (Hartstichting) for the good cooperation and joining forces!

New video about the Hartenbank

The Hartenbank has made a new video in collaboration with Pounding Pictures. In this video, the PLN Foundation, doctors and researchers explain why the Hartenbank is important and why we need as much heart tissue as possible from both healthy and sick donors. You can watch the video here or click on the image below. This video is also on our social media channels (LinkedIn and Facebook). We like it if you want to share this video online or in your network!

Cycling Trilogy Utrecht

The Hartenbank is going to cycle along in the Utrecht Cycling Trilogy! This means that a team will cycle on May 20 (Giro d’Utrecht), July 2 (Tour d’Utrecht) and August 27 (Vuelta a Utrecht). Therefore, we want to raise money for the Hartenbank. We are looking for people who want to join the cycling team and people who want to sponsor us.

What is the Cycling Trilogy?

Utrecht is the only city in the world that hosted all three Grand Tours. In 2010 during the Giro, in 2015 during the Tour de France and in 2022 during the Vuelta. In the cycling trilogy, these rounds are repeated festively. Each round has its own Italian, French or Spanish vibe. More information about the cycling trilogy can be found at www.utrechtsewielertrilogie.nl. You can also register here.

I want to ride along, what should I do?

You can choose to cycle all three rounds, but you can also do one or two. In addition, you can choose a distance yourself: 70, 100 or 130 kilometers. For each round you have to register yourself separately via the website and via our own registration form. You can also set up a sponsorship campaign yourself via Geef. And you can create a so-called ‘Give action’.

NLHI Heart Tissue Bank spinning marathon

On November 12, 2022, 38 heroes cycled for 4 hours for the Heart Tissue Bank. The occasion was the 50th anniversary of the Netherlands Heart Institute. In total, about 5,000 euros was raised and the NLHI doubled this to 10,000 euros with the help of a generous donor! A great result that we are very proud of! Heart Tissue Bank Coordinator Michiel Henkens tells us again what we did it all for. Special thanks to the instructors of Legendary Lane, our sponsors: WCN.life, NVVC.nl, Antoine Catering, the PLN foundation and to the creators of this video CreativeBros.nl. (video in Dutch)

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Team Hartenbank cycling for Cycle Paris (May 2022)

During the cycling event ‘Cycle Paris’ of the Dutch Heart Foundation (26-30 May 2022), “Team Heart Tissue Bank” cycled from The Hague to Paris to raise money for the Heart Tissue Bank. The (future) work of the Heart Tissue Bank would not be possible without financial support. Team Heart Tissue Bank raised €7239.99. Thank you to all donors for your contribution!

‘Boost voor translationeel en fundamenteel cardiovasculair onderzoek’ (De Cardioloog, June 2022, article in Dutch)

Hartenbank van start

Interview with Michiel Henkens, in Dutch. Read more >>

Pieter Glijnis wil meer harten voor onderzoek naar PLN (NPO radio 1, 20 May 2022, in Dutch)

Interview with Pieter Glijnis, in Dutch. Listen to the fragment >>

Hart voor de wetenschap (Volkskrant 14 May 2022, article in Dutch)

Interview with Pieter Glijnis, Michiel Henkens and Pieter Doevendans. Read more >>

Human Cardiac Tissue available for Cardiovascular Research

The Heart Tissue Bank is a non-profit biobank that collects and stores biomaterial and clinical data of individuals with and without previously known cardiac diseases. All individuals aged ≥ 18 years that live in the Netherlands are eligible for inclusion as a potential future donor. Researchers all over the world can use the stored heart tissue and related clinical data for their research. First tissues are now available! Read more >>

New animation Heart Tissue Bank

An animation video (in Dutch with Dutch subtitles) has just been released to explain the concept of the Heart Tissue Bank. Have a look and feel free to send it around!

The Heart Tissue Bank is a non-profit biobank that collects and stores biomaterial and clinical data of individuals with and without previously known cardiac diseases. All individuals aged ≥ 18 years that live in the Netherlands are eligible for inclusion as a potential future donor. Researchers all over the world can use the stored heart tissue and related clinical data for their research.

For additional information & information on how to become a donor go to www.hearttissuebank.nl.

The (future) work of the Heart Tissue Bank is not possible without donations. Would you like to make a financial contribution? Go to www.hearttissuebank.nl/steun-ons.

We would like to thank you for your contribution on behalf of all researchers.