Dr. Maaike van Putten conducted her PhD research at the department of Human Genetics of the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) under supervision of Prof. Dr. van Ommen and Prof. Dr. Aartsma-Rus. She studied functional performance and pathology in various animal models for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. In February 2013, she successfully defended her thesis titled. Maaike investigated physiological parameters as a postdoctoral fellow in the group of Prof. Dr. Wells at the Royal Veterinary College in London in 2012. In 2013 she returned to work as a postdoc in the lab of Prof. Dr. Aartsma-Rus. Her current work focuses on studying muscle function and pathology in several muscular dystrophy mouse models, improving muscle quality by targeting primary and/or secondary pathology and characterizing and treating the consequences of dystrophinopathy on the brain.

She has published >25 articles (9 as a first author, 7 as last author), presented her work and was awarded with numerous fellowships and awards at various international congresses. She has received several grants and has multiple collaborations on diverse muscular dystrophies.

Dr. van Putten is a member of the TREAT-NMD working group for standard operating procedures to test the effects of treatments in mice for DMD and a member of the Animal Welfare Body of the LUMC. She organizes the Leiden Center of Translational Neuroscience network meetings and is responsible for managing experimental mouse work in the exon skipping group. She regularly presents for the general public to increase knowledge on DNA and muscular dystrophies.