My research

Hugo received his PhD (cum laude) in the lab of Hans Clevers (Hubrecht Institute) where he used advanced mouse genetics and microscopy to characterize (new) stem cell populations in the mouse intestine, skin and intestinal cancer. Moreover, he pioneered live-cell imaging of stem cell behavior within the first organoid models (mini-organs in a dish).

After a brief postdoc at the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience (Delft University of Technology) on cutting edge microscopic technologies, he initiated his own research line in the MCR department of the UMC Utrecht to understand heterogeneity in (stem) cell behavior during tumor formation and cancer progression. In 2016, he became group leader in the MCR department, where his group exploits the unique combination of I) primary human cancer samples (tumor organoids), II) molecular genetics to engineer and manipulate human cancers and III) real-time imaging to monitor and quantify cellular behavior to study functional heterogeneity between phenotypic and genetically diverse cancer cells, with the long term goal to understand and prevent cancer occurrence and therapy resistance.

Awards

• 2015: Martinus van Marum Prize, Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen
• 2011: The Barri Hesp scholarship 2005

Key Publications

1. Heinz MC, Peters NA, …, Kranenburg O, Snippert HJG. (2022). Liver Colonization by Colorectal Cancer Metastases Requires YAP-Controlled Plasticity at the Micrometastatic Stage.Cancer Res. 16;82(10):1953-1968.
2. Bollen Y, Stelloo E, …, Snippert HJG. (2021). Reconstructing single-cell karyotype alterations in colorectal cancer identifies punctuated and gradual diversification patterns. Nat Genet. 53(8):1187-1195.
3. Ponsioen B, …, Snippert HJG. (2021). Quantifying single-cell ERK dynamics in colorectal cancer organoids reveals EGFR as an amplifier of oncogenic MAPK pathway signalling. Nat Cell Biol. 23(4):377-390.
4. Bolhaqueiro ACF, Ponsioen B, …, Snippert HJG, Kops GJPL. (2019). Ongoing chromosomal instability and karyotype evolution in human colorectal cancer organoids. Nat Genet.51(5):824-834.
5. Verissimo CS, Overmeer RM, Ponsioen B, …, Snippert HJ. (2016). Targeting mutant RAS in patient-derived colorectal cancer organoids by combinatorial drug screening. eLIFE, 15;5:e18489.