Projects per year
Personal profile
Quote
"My dream is to introduce complex functions into materials using various supramolecular formulation and screening approaches; to ultimately control biology in the human body."
Research profile
Patricia Dankers is full professor of Biomedical Materials at the department of Biomedical Engineering of Eindhoven University of Technology. The mission of the DankersLab is to provide material solutions for regenerative medicine through development of functional biomaterials based on supramolecular chemistry.
For more information visit the website of Patricia Dankers' lab: www.dankerslab.nl
Academic background
Patricia Dankers studied chemistry at Radboud University (Nijmegen, the Netherlands), where she majored in biochemistry and organic chemistry. In 2002, she started her PhD research at Eindhoven University of Technology under supervision of prof. E.W. (Bert) Meijer, developing and studying supramolecular bioactive biomaterials by introducing a modular approach. After her PhD defense in 2006, she became a research scientist at the SupraPolix company in Eindhoven and a researcher at the laboratory of Pathology and Medical Biology at the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG). At UMCG she initiated the Dutch bioartificial kidney project together with Prof. Marja J.A. van Luyn. In 2008, Patricia Dankers was appointed as assistant professor at Eindhoven University of Technology. In 2010 she was a visiting professor in the research group of Prof. Samuel I. Stupp at the Institute for BioNanotechnology in Medicine at Northwestern University, Chicago (USA). In 2013, she defended her second PhD thesis, this time in the medical sciences and at Groningen University, with her study on kidney regenerative medicine. In 2014, she was appointed associate professor at TU/e and in 2017 full professor of Biomedical Materials. Patricia Dankers is a Veni (2008) and Vidi (2017) laureate and received an ERC starting grant in 2012. She has been awarded various grants and awards, such as the DSM Science & Technology award and the Pauline van Wachem award (for the best thesis in biomaterials research and tissue engineering). Since 2015 she is a member of De Jonge Akademie (DJA) of the KNAW and in 2016 she joined the board of DJA.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
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SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 4 Active
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Femtura STIM-01123
Dankers, P. Y. W. (Project Manager), Vacancy Postdoc (Project member), Slothouber, M. (Project communication officer) & van Genderen, M. H. P. (Project member)
1/11/25 → 31/10/28
Project: Third tier
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Novel preclinical development of drug-loaded hydrogel formetastasized ovarian cancer
Dankers, P. Y. W. (Project Manager), Rovers, M. (Project member), van Gijzel, L. (Project member) & van Genderen, M. H. P. (Project member)
1/07/24 → 30/06/27
Project: Third tier
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Arvina / OP Zuid / STIM 00488
Rutten, M. (Project member), van Genderen, M. H. P. (Project member), Dankers, P. Y. W. (Project Manager), Vacancy 14 (Project member) & Slothouber, M. (Project communication officer)
1/11/23 → 31/10/26
Project: Third tier
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The NEOHEART study: redirecting the wound healing after myocardial infarction towards cardiac regeneration.
Dankers, P. Y. W. (Project Manager) & Goodarzi Hosseinabadi, H. (Project member)
1/06/23 → 31/05/27
Project: Second tier
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Controlling Intestinal Organoid Polarity using Synthetic Dynamic Hydrogels Decorated with Laminin-Derived IKVAV Peptides
Rijns, L., Wijnakker, J. A. P. M., Veenbrink, V. A., Bellan, R., Craenmehr, F. W. B., Hendrikse, S. I. S., van Sprang, J. F., de Lau, W., Meijer, E. W., Clevers, H. & Dankers, P. Y. W. (Corresponding author), 23 Feb 2026, In: Advanced Healthcare Materials. 15, 8, 15 p., e02079.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile8 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus)50 Downloads (Pure) -
Controlling the Assembly of Ureido-Pyrimidinone Supramolecular Monomers by Tuning the Hydrophilic-Hydrophobic Balance
Bellan, R., Cardellini, A., Perego, C., Paffen, L. J. M. M., Rijns, L., Pavan, G. M. & Dankers, P. Y. W. (Corresponding author), 1 Feb 2026, In: Journal of Polymer Science. 64, 3, p. 682-690 9 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Link opens in a new tab Citation (Scopus)16 Downloads (Pure) -
A soft robotic total artificial hybrid heart
Arfaee, M., Vis, A., Bartels, P. A. A., van Laake, L. C., Lorenzon, L., Ibrahim, D. M., Zrinscak, D., Smits, A. I. P. M., Henseler, A., Cianchetti, M., Dankers, P. Y. W., Bouten, C. V. C., Overvelde, J. T. B. & Kluin, J. (Corresponding author), 3 Jun 2025, In: Nature Communications. 16, 1, 14 p., 5146.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile12 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus)130 Downloads (Pure) -
Bayesian optimization for multicomponent supramolecular systems
Jansen, S. A. H., Markvoort, A. J., de Graaf, F. V., Rutten, M., Dankers, P. Y. W., Vantomme, G. M. E., de Greef, T. F. A. (Corresponding author) & Meijer, E. W. (Corresponding author), 17 Sept 2025, In: Journal of the American Chemical Society. 147, 37, p. 33607-33614 8 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile7 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus)90 Downloads (Pure) -
Biohybrid corneal stromal tissue formation using keratocytes encapsulated in supramolecular microgels
Rovers, M. M., Vrehen, A. F. & Dankers, P. Y. W. (Corresponding author), Oct 2025, In: Materials Today Bio. 34, 15 p., 102214.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile17 Downloads (Pure)
Prizes
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NWO Vidi Award : Pieces of plastic with biological properties?
Dankers, P. Y. W. (Recipient), 2016
Prize: NWO › Vidi › Scientific
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Supramolecular Chemistry in Medicine:Towards Complex Molecular Biomaterials that are Indistinguishable from Nature
Dankers, P. Y. W. (Recipient), 2012
Prize: ERC › Starting › Scientific
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Supramolecular hydrogels as local controlled drug delivery carriers
Dankers, P. Y. W. (Recipient), 2016
Prize: ERC › Proof of concept › Scientific
Courses
Press/Media
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Tips to successfully switch research fields: Editorial
31/10/23
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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ICMS: the institute that revolves around people
Pieterse, K., Loerakker, S., Dankers, P. Y. W., van Santen, R. A., van Hest, J. C. M., Schouten, J. C. & Peletier, M. A.
31/03/23
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Vici grant to help Patricia Dankers turn dreams into reality
23/02/23
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Eindhoven University of Technology: Chemists Find a Contrary Effect - How Diluting With Water Makes a Solution Firm
Dankers, P. Y. W. & Vantomme, G. M. E.
8/07/22
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Biomaterials for kidney organoid-based regenerative therapy
Dankers, P. Y. W. & Bouten, C. V. C.
8/07/22
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Expert Comment