Dr. Cora Nijboer

Biography

Cora Nijboer was born on November 5th, 1980. She studied Medical Biology at Utrecht University, graduating with honors in 2003. She began her PhD in 2003 as part of a collaborative project at the Laboratory of Neuroimmunology and Developmental Origins of Disease (NIDOD) in the Department of Neonatology at UMC Utrecht, under the supervision of Professors Heijnen and van Bel. Her research focused on novel treatment strategies to combat neonatal brain damage due to hypoxia-ischemia, culminating in her PhD thesis titled 'Protecting the newborn brain: molecular mechanisms & therapeutic targets' in 2008. After completing her PhD, she continued her research as a post-doctoral researcher at NIDOD Laboratory of UMC Utrecht, where she studied the effects of small peptide inhibitors on crucial cell signaling pathways such as NF-κB, JNK, and p53, aiming to reduce cerebral cell death in hypoxia-ischemia in newborn rodents. Her research interests include regenerative medicine and understanding the impact of early life adversity on brain development. She leads the Protection and Repair of the Injured Newborn Brain group, which focuses on improving outcomes for infants affected by perinatal asphyxia, stroke, and stress, as well as exploring neonatal neurobehavior and the environmental factors affecting brain development in NICU infants.

Research Interests

Experience