Interview with professor in molecular endocrinology Marcel Schaaf

26 February 2025 News item

Since February 1st, Marcel Schaaf and Erin Faught have been working at the Department of Plant & Animal Biology at RIBES. In this interview, you can learn more about Marcel's research and plans at the Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences (RIBES).

Background

Marcel Schaaf studied in Utrecht and earned his PhD in Leiden, and throughout his career, he has focused on the function of corticosteroids, or adrenal cortex hormones. During his PhD research, he investigated the effect of the hormone corticosterone in rats (the human equivalent is cortisol) on memory. During his postdocs in the US and the UK, he specialized more in the molecular aspect, specifically the function of the cortisol receptor in cells. He uses advanced microscopy for this research. His fundamental work contributes to a better understanding of how hormones and medications like prednisone work.

Zebrafish

When Marcel returned to Leiden after his postdocs, he became involved with zebrafish as a model for this type of research. Since then, he has been using zebrafish as a model in two different research areas: on the one hand, he investigates the action of corticosteroids as effective medicines and how their side effects can be minimised; on the other hand, he is interested in the role of cortisol during a stress response. Cortisol has a bad reputation, but it actually has various beneficial effects in the short term and on our immune system. Together with Erin Faught, Marcel is investigating how this works, particularly the interaction between different receptors in this process.

Biology, Ecology, and Aquaculture

Much of Marcel’s research is fundamental. “The zebrafish serves as a model for me for biomedical applications in medicine, the ‘red leg’ of the research. However, a solid fundamental foundation in zebrafish research is also important for ecological research (the ‘green leg’), which looks at the influence of external factors such as climate change and pollution on fish. The third application of this knowledge is for aquaculture, or the breeding and farming of fish (the ‘blue leg’), so that people can do this in an effective and responsible way. I hope to strengthen all three legs and thus connect to the research already being done here.”

History of Fish Research in Nijmegen

At RIBES, formerly IWWR, there is a long history of fish research. Under emeritus professor Gert Flik, and before him Sjoerd Wendelaar Bonga, much research has been done in Nijmegen on stress in fish. This is made possible by the Radboud Zebrafish Facility. “I am very impressed with the zebrafish facility. It’s large, with about 10,000 zebrafish swimming, and it is excellently organized and maintained by dedicated staff. ‘My’ fish were brought here in December as eggs, and now they’re swimming around, a few centimeters big.”

Collaboration

“In Leiden, I was more or less working on an island, as my colleagues mostly focused on disease-related research. My group was a bit of the odd one out. Here at Radboud University, I hope to have more interaction and shared interests with other research, including that at Radboudumc and the Donders Institute. I also want to leverage existing contacts in aquaculture.”
“Within RIBES, we can collaborate with other departments: fish research with the ecologists, but also with the microbiologists. It’s very interesting, for example, that we have discovered that zebrafish raised in a ‘germ-free’ environment do not produce cortisol. How is that possible? The microbiome must play a role in that. We could investigate this together.”

Contact information

Contact: L.C. de Die (Lara)
Organizational unit: Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences, Plant & Animal Biology
About person: Prof. M.J.M. Schaaf (Marcel) , Dr L.E. Faught (Erin)
Theme: Sustainability, Nature, Health & Healthcare