Expertise and research
Marcel Schaaf focuses his research on the functioning of corticosteroids, a class of compounds that comprises both hormones (such as cortisol) and as drugs (such as prednisolone and dexamethasone). On one hand, Schaaf studies the effects of the stress hormone cortisol, which is responsible for many harmful effects of stress. However, his research primarily centres on the recently discovered health-promoting properties of this hormone. On the other hand, he investigates the role of corticosteroids in the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, such as asthma and rheumatoid arthritis, with a particular focus on reducing the severe side effects of these medications. For both lines of research, Schaaf primarily uses the zebrafish as a model organism.
“Research on corticosteroids is highly versatile and therefore never boring. The beauty of corticosteroids lies in the fact that they function both as hormones and as drugs, and additionally activate a receptor that acts as a transcription factor. As a result, research on these substances spans multiple disciplines, including endocrinology, pharmacology, and molecular biology.”
About Marcel Schaaf
Marcel Schaaf (born in Den Helder, 1968) studied Medical Biology at Utrecht University, where he obtained his Master of Science degree in 1992. He then continued his work at Leiden University, where he conducted his PhD research. His doctoral research focused on how the stress hormone corticosterone (the equivalent of the human hormone cortisol) and the protein BDNF jointly influence memory, using rats as model organisms. He completed this PhD research, titled "Cortisosterone, BDNF and Memory Formation," in 1999.
Following his PhD, Schaaf worked for four years as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States. He then held a second postdoctoral position for one and a half years at GlaxoSmithKline in England, supported by an Industrial Marie Curie Fellowship. In 2004, he returned to the Netherlands to work as a postdoc at Leiden University, where he was appointed Associate Professor in 2010. Recently, Marcel Schaaf received a Biotech Booster grant for research aimed at reducing the side effects of prednisolone.
In addition to his research and teaching, Schaaf has contributed to Leiden University in various capacities, including several years of committee work. In 2022, he was appointed Director of Education for the Bachelor's programme in Biology at Leiden University.