Meet Annemieke Mathissen, PhD student EVOLF

Hi! My name is Annemieke Mathissen. After completing my masters in biotechnology at Wageningen University and a thesis in metabolic engineering with EVOLF member Nico Claassens, I’ll return to my bachelor alma mater of TU Delft for my PhD. There, I’ll be a part of EVOLF’s work package 1 (synthetic genome). My research will be on creating in vitro PURE chromosomes, focusing on their optimisation for self-expression. This project starts with transcription optimisation using various promoters, RBS, terminators, and sigma factors, followed by researching ideal expression levels for PURE elements, and eventually will combine expression units into a chromosome. My primary supervisor for this project will be Pascale Daran-Lapujade, with co-supervision from Cristophe Danelon. Other collaborators will be Nico Claassens and Cees Dekker.

I have several hobbies outside of my work. I love a good podcast, and am currently on the fourth season of Empire with Anita Anand and William Dalrymple. I enjoy playing volleyball, where my left-handed status comes in useful as a middle and opposite hitter. After having grown up in the US, I also enjoy debating the merits of powdered forms of cheese and other American culinary innovations with my European peers.