Lisa Sackmann is a PhD student (start 2023) in the group of Dr. Ina Sonnen and Dr. Jop Kind at the Hubrecht Institute in Utrecht.
She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences in Maastricht where she found her interest in developmental biology and fertility. There, she joined Dr. Masoud Zamani (UMCU) to write her thesis on single-cell technologies in reproductive medicine. To follow up, she completed her Master’s degree (Cancer, Stem Cells and Developmental Biology) in Utrecht. As part of the programme, she developed single-molecule imaging tools for C. elegans in the group of Dr. Suzan Ruijtenberg (UU). As part of the U/Select Honours programme, she went abroad to join the group of Dr. Jérôme Gros at Institut Pasteur in Paris. Here, she explored the role of mechanics in modulating pluripotency during early quail development with spatial transcriptomics technology. Based on her interest in the early embryo, advanced imaging, and the modulating role of mechanics, she applied to join the PSIDER project in the Sonnen and Kind lab. In her PhD, she will explore the role of the mechanical environment and internal forces during early human development as well as implantation through the use of artificial embryo-like structures (blastoids).
