Frank Schaap

Frank Schaap studied biochemistry and molecular biology, and obtained his PhD in the field of cardiac physiology. Working as a postdoc at the department of Experimental Hepatology and later the Tytgat Institute for Liver and Intestinal Research (Amsterdam UMC, The Netherlands), he became fascinated in the biology and endocrine actions of bile salts. He is appointed as Assistant Professor at the Department of Surgery at Maastricht University (The Netherlands), and at the Department of General, Visceral, Vasculat and Transplantation Surgery in Essen (University Hospital Essen, Germany) where he is Principal Investigator in the collaborative research center “Gut-Liver axis”. His team studies the role of bile salt signaling in intestinal and liver health and disease. His research has a translational focus, employing the surgical patient with a perturbed enterohepatic circulation as ‘model system’, and further utilizing patient-derived organoids and tissues slices. His work is funded by national and international agencies, and he has (co)authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications. Professional memberships include (inter)national hepatological associations.