Trusted for our single-cell expertise

Mauro Muraro

CO-FOUNDER AND CEO

Mauro Muraro, PhD, leads scientific and technical initiatives and is closely involved with client relationships, excelling in bespoke project design and complex data analysis. Before co-founding Single Cell Discoveries, Mauro developed the SORT-seq platform in the Van Oudenaarden Lab at the Hubrecht Institute, where he earned his PhD. Mauro is eager to continue innovating new methods in the single-cell field to accelerate biological discovery for clients and realize the potential of single-cell insights in clinical settings.

Judith Vivié

CO-FOUNDER AND COO

As COO, Judith spearheads operational excellence at the company and has the final responsibility of running client experiments. She had extensive experience running the core facility for single-cell sequencing at the Hubrecht Institute, one of the first of its kind in the world, before co-founding Single Cell Discoveries in 2018. Judith has an MSc degree in Cancer, Stem Cells & Development from Utrecht University. She is an aficionado for lab robots and gets her inner nerd excited by sharing her love for automation with others.

Bastiaan Bijl

HEAD OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Bastiaan is responsible for Sales and Business Development at Single Cell Discoveries. He loves to talk to (potential) customers and discuss their scientific projects to figure out how we can help. Bastiaan has a knack for automation and tries to automate his day-to-day tasks as much as possible. With an MSc in Science & Business Management and a background in consulting, his inner nerd is triggered by Excel spreadsheets.

Dylan Mooijman

HEAD OF R&D

Dylan Mooijman, PhD, leads the research and development team responsible for developing new technologies and improving current methods.

He brings a hefty 10 years of experience with single-cell technologies to the team, which he gained as a postdoc and HFSP fellow at EMBL Heidelberg (Ephrussi lab) and PhD student in the Van Oudenaarden lab (Hubrecht Institute).

Lotte Koopman

HEAD OF LABORATORY OPERATIONS

Lotte Koopman, PhD, is highly meticulous and loves a perfectly organized lab, making her our ideal lab manager. She manages the daily operations of the laboratory and oversees the processing of customer samples, lab safety, and QC.

Before joining SCD, she completed her PhD at the UMC Utrecht and the Hubrecht Institute, where she gained extensive experience with genetics and project management.

In her free time, Lotte enjoys traveling and photography, and she is currently honing her programming skills with R and Python.

Andrei Prodan

HEAD OF DATA

Andrei Prodan, PhD, is responsible for coordinating the SCD Data Science team, updating and maintaining computational infrastructure, and managing research collaborations. Before SCD, he worked as Senior Data Scientist at NIZO, a Dutch CRO doing research for the Food and Pharma industries. Prior, he was a postdoctoral researcher in Bioinformatics at the AMC Amsterdam for 4 years analyzing human clinical trial and cohort data, and obtained his PhD at the Free University Amsterdam. He enjoys running, hiking and reading.

Sabine Tanis

TEAM LEAD METHOD DEVELOPMET

Sabine Tanis, PhD, is Team Lead Method Development in the R&D department and is responsible for enhancing current protocols, developing new methods, and supporting demanding customer requests.

Before working at SCD, she worked as a postdoc at the Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences in Nijmegen, studying keratinocyte biology through multi-modal single-cell sequencing methods.

In her spare time, Sabine loves being outside biking or hiking, and her inner nerd loves to read a good fantasy book.

Fredrik Salmén

R&D CONSULTANT

Fredrik Salmén, PhD, his role is to improve existing methods and to develop novel methods that we can offer our clients. He takes pride and joy in working with technologies covering the transcriptomics and genomics field, focusing mainly on single-cell and spatial methods.

Prior to working at SCD, Fredrik was a postdoc at the Hubrecht Institute (Van Oudenaarden lab), where he created the VASA-seq technology among other things. Before that, he was a PhD student at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)/Scilifelab in Stockholm, Sweden, and part of the group to develop the technology underlying 10x Genomics Visium.

In his free time, Fredrik enjoys working on and riding motorcycles, spending time with his family, and surfing.

Oriol Llorà-Batlle

TEAM LEAD EXTERNAL R&D ALLIANCES

Oriol is responsible for coordinating the efforts of SCD within the PERSIST-SEQ consortium. He loves challenges and using cutting-edge technologies to address challenging questions.

He obtained his BSc degree in Biology at the University of Girona and his MSc and PhD in Biomedical Research at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. Before joining SCD, he was working at the University of Cambridge doing research on developmental biology.

His inner nerd is triggered by LOTR and video games. He also enjoys road cycling, board games, and the company of a good book.

Nataša Josipović

TEAM LEAD OF 10X GENOMICS

Nataša Josipović, PhD, is responsible for 10x Genomics samples and processing at Single Cell Discoveries. Before joining SCD, she completed her PhD at International Max Planck Research School for Genome Science in Germany, studying multifaceted regulatory mechanisms governing the cell’s transcription program. She is originally from Serbia, where she completed her bachelor's in molecular biology and master's in the field of neurobiology. Besides her enthusiasm for learning piano, her inner nerd is excited by computational analysis and automation of NGS data, as well as coding in R/Python.

Anneleen Bobeldijk

TEAM LEAD CEL-SEQ SERVICES

Anneleen works as Team lead of CEL-seq services at Single Cell Discoveries and is responsible for leading and monitoring the CEL-seq services team. She maintains overall turnaround times, runs experiments, manages projects, and is in touch with clients. Before joining SCD, she completed her BSc in Life Sciences from the University of Applied Sciences Utrecht. She completed internships in Israel at the Sheba Medical Center and at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience.
Besides biology, she is interested in women's empowerment and enjoys going to the gym and doing DIY projects.

Unai Escribano Vazquez

TEAM LEAD NGS

Unai is responsible for the Next Generation Sequencing team, managing the internal sequencing facilities. His work experience includes setting up the sequencing facility at the CRO Biomillenia in France, and with 5+ years of research and project management experience in micro- and molecular biology, Unai is an expert in his field. He received his PhD in intestinal microbiota at the Sorbonne University in Paris.

In his free time, he enjoys cooking, spending time in nature, and backpacking.

May Ho

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

May Ho, PhD, manages client relationships and ensures that they receive the best possible service from our company. Meanwhile, she explores the market to identify new business opportunities and connects Single Cell Discoveries with new clients.

She pursued a PhD in neurodevelopment at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence in Munich, Germany. In her thesis, she applied single-cell genomic technology to study inhibitory neuron fate commitment. She also developed a single-cell–compatible lineage tracing method that enabled a more comprehensive understanding of neuronal differentiation.

Outside of science, she enjoys taking pictures with her analog camera, visiting arts museums and the opera, and watching foreign films.

Tim Muntslag

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Tim Muntslag, PhD, is responsible for our contact with customers and consults on the use of our services. He is an educated neuroscientist and molecular biologist with a PhD in microglial heterogeneity. During his work, he developed a passion for science and gained broad experience in single-cell technologies, both single-cell and spatial. His inner nerd gets excited about healthy aging, (endurance) sports, sports science, and nutrition.

Marina Costagliola di Polidoro

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT REPRESENTATIVE

Marina is responsible for the sales pipeline and executing consultation calls with leads and clients. She completed her BSc in molecular biology at the University of Naples Federico II. Soon after, she recognized her character suited communication and sales activities better, so she combined her scientific background with the goal of fulfilling clients' needs. She gained experience in sales working for denovoMATRIX, a German biotech start-up where she learned account management and sales strategies.

Virginia Palomares Cabeza

SCIENTIFIC PROJECT MANAGER

Virginia is Scientific Project Manager and is responsible for coordinating the communication in complex projects across teams and between SCD and clients, as well as keeping track of milestones, deadlines, and capacity planning. She completed her joint PhD in Immunology and Regenerative Medicine at the Erasmus MC in Rotterdam and the University College Dublin. Her inner nerd loves interior decoration and organizing stuff, and in her free time, she likes dancing ballet, trying out new food, and journaling.

Darina Šikrová

R&D SCIENTIST

Darina Šikrová, PhD, works as a scientist in our R&D department, where she is working on improving the currently offered methods as well as developing new ones.

Born and raised in Slovakia, she obtained her BSc in Biology there and, afterward, her MSc in Molecular Biology and Genetics in the Czech Republic. After that, she moved to the Netherlands to get her PhD at Leiden University Medical Centre on a gene therapy approach to Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy.

She enjoys doing yoga and solving a daily Wordle puzzle.

Amalia Riga

AUTOMATION SCIENTIST

Amalia Riga, PhD, is responsible for setting up and implementing lab automations to improve and scale up Single Cell Discoveries’ workflows.

Before joining SCD, she was an automation scientist at Hudson River Biotechnology, Wageningen, and obtained her PhD on a Marie Curie Fellowship studying the role of basal polarity regulators using C. elegans at Utrecht University. Born and raised on the island of Corfu in Greece, she completed her Bachelor's in the School of Biology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and her Masters in the Medical School of the University of Crete.

Her inner nerd enjoys reading Jo Nesbo books and rewatching the same movies and series.

Doreth Fransen

AUTOMATION SCIENTIST

Doreth Fransen works as an Automation Scientist in our R&D department. Currently, she focuses on managing and testing new robotic solutions to automate our current and new techniques.

Prior to joining Single Cell Discoveries, she completed her Bachelor of Applied Sciences in Biotechnology (with a major in Forensic Sciences) at Van Hall Larenstein and graduated with her Master's in Biology of Disease at Utrecht University.

In her spare time, she enjoys thrill-seeking sports such as snowboarding and kitesurfing.

Stefani Giacopazzi

SUPPORT SCIENTIST

Stefani Giacopazzi started out at SCD managing our bulk RNA-seq pipeline. After single-handedly processing thousands of samples, she carried her bulk RNA-seq expertise into her next role in SCD's R&D team, where she is responsible for bulk RNA-seq optimization and translating new R&D techniques into service-ready SOPs for our Services team.

She is originally from California and completed her BSc in Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Her inner nerd is obsessed with the human microbiome, tropical plants, and exploring recipes from all over the world.

Daniel Armendariz

10X GENOMICS SCIENTIST

In his role as a Scientist at 10x Genomics, Daniel oversees services and sample processing related to 10x Genomics technology. Daniel holds a PhD in Genetics, Development & Disease from the University of Texas Southwestern in the United States. During his academic journey, he utilized single-cell CRISPRi screens to pinpoint crucial enhancers required for the differentiation of human embryonic stem cells towards cardiomyocytes.

Outside of the lab, Daniel enjoys board games and has recently rekindled his interest in the art of juggling.

Lovindy Lebalado

LAB TECHNICIAN

Lovindy is responsible for sample processing, sample shipments, and general lab maintenance. Before SCD, she gained experience in panel sequencing as a lab technician for the NGS lab at Macrogen Europe. She was born and raised in Indonesia, where she obtained her bachelor’s in nutrition science. After her bachelor's degree, she moved to the Netherlands to obtain her master’s in molecular nutrition and toxicology at Wageningen University.

In her free time, she can be found creating new recipes or taking care of her plant colony.

Jeroen Geerligs

LAB TECHNICIAN

Jeroen works as a lab technician at Single Cell Discoveries and is responsible for sample processing, sample shipments, and lab maintenance. He has obtained both his MSc and BSc in life sciences at Utrecht University. Jeroen has worked a lot with lentiviral transduction systems to manipulate cell differentiation with transcription factors and to reverse mutations in DNA with Prime Editing.

Away from the lab, Jeroen likes to spend his time outside on his road bike, running, hiking, and ice skating.

Manon Messchendorp

LAB TECHNICIAN

As a lab technician at Single Cell Discoveries, Manon is responsible for sample processing, sample shipments, and lab maintenance. She obtained her MSc and BSc in biology at the University of Leiden. During her internships, she worked on the anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative stress response in zebrafish embryos and the identification of mutation-independent neoantigens in cancer cells.

Besides playing tennis, going to the gym, and on an occasional run, her inner nerd gets excited by fantasy books and video games.

Nathalie Groen

TEAM LEAD DATA CONSULTING

Nathalie Groen, PhD, helps our customers get the most out of their data as team lead of the data analysis project scientists. Next to that, she is a PostDoc at the Hubrecht Institute, where she works on building a cell atlas on the human pancreas. She obtained her PhD in computational biology at the University of Twente. She first started working with single-cell data as a PostDoc when studying β-cell biology in the context of diabetes. At home, she is using Raspberry Pi's to smarten things up.

Jan Willem Wijnands

DATA MANAGER

Jan Willem's main focus is on maintaining the data analysis pipeline at Single Cell Discoveries. He completed his BSc degree in Bioinformatics at the University of Applied Sciences Leiden and his MSc degree in Evolutionary Biology at Leiden University. During his research internships, he mainly worked on the phylogenetics of bacteria, orchids, and banded newts at Institute Biology Leiden and Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Out of office hours, his inner nerd gets triggered by all types of gadgets to establish a smarter home.

Jessie van Buggenum

SENIOR DATA SCIENTIST

Jessie van Buggenum, PhD, is senior data scientist responsible for custom data analysis projects for our clients. She has obtained the VENI research grant and was key computational investigator for two public-private partnerships in single-cell multiomics prior to starting at Single Cell Discoveries. Her PhD she obtained in molecular developmental biology, where she developed sequencing methods ID-seq and RAID.

Her love for photography earned her the Gup News talent award in 2021 for a documentary on her grandfather. In addition, she loves gravel biking, backpacking and camping in Scandinavia.

Empar Baltasar Pérez

JUNIOR DATA SCIENTIST

Empar focuses helps our customers get the most out of their data with custom data projects. She obtained an MSc in Bioinformatics and Biocomplexity at Utrecht University and a BSc degree in Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Valencia. Besides science, she loves listening to and playing music. She can play the flute and the piano.

Pablo Gómez Sacristán

JUNIOR BIOINFORMATICIAN

Pablo works as a junior bioinformatician at Single Cell Discoveries and is responsible for processing and sending out data to clients. Prior to starting at Single Cell Discoveries, Pablo worked at Macrogen Europe as a Bioinformatician analyzing NGS data. He obtained both his MSc in Computational Biology and BSc in Biotechnology at the Technical University of Madrid and carried out his internships in Ireland and France.  His inner nerd gets triggered by retro video games such as Pokémon and Super Mario.

Sofia Drobysheva

JUNIOR DATA SCIENTIST

Sofia is working together with R&D and data teams to analyze data from mainly in-house projects. Before joining SCD, she was living in Stockholm, where she did her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, as well as working part-time in biotech start-up Capitainer. During her master’s project, she has integrating single-cell datasets. Her bachelor’s project focused on yeast with impaired Ca2+ homeostasis. In her free time, Sofia goes on long city walks or hikes.

Hannah Oevermans

TEAM LEAD MARKETING

Hannah is responsible for the marketing team and the off- and online marketing activities at Single Cell Discoveries. She has a Master's degree in Science & Business Management and a BSc degree in Biomedical Sciences, both obtained at Utrecht University. She finished her Master's program at Single Cell Discoveries with a marketing internship and her thesis about branding. Before she joined SCD, she completed a research internship on acute infant leukemia at the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology.

Niels Tjoonk

CONTENT MARKETER

While Niels' left hand is writing ebooks, his right hand will be typing blog posts, and his mind will be searching for new ways to tell the story of Single Cell Discoveries. He did a bachelor's in biomedical sciences, a master's in cancer, stem cells & developmental biology, and a minor in science communication at Utrecht University. He likes to play footy, read, draw, and give guided tours through Utrecht during his time off. You can speak to his inner nerd with questions about famous writers, genome evolution and HBO's Deadwood.

Kelly Klaassen

ONLINE MARKETER

Kelly is responsible for digital marketing at Single Cell Discoveries. She completed her MSc degree in Biomedical Sciences with a specialization in management at the University of Leiden. The dual nature of this master allows her to combine her passions for both science and business. During her research internships, she gained experience in both wet and dry labs. In her master's, she investigated the needs and wants of commercial clients at Single Cell Discoveries.

André Nascimento

PROJECT MANAGER

André is responsible for supporting our management with organization and communication regarding important, companywide complex projects. Furthermore, communicating company strategy to internal & external stakeholders. André has an MSc in Business Administration in Change Management and Biotechnology graduate. André has experience with Project Management, Sales, and Business Development for life-science projects. Master studies internship as Project Commercialization Manager in the FMCG industry at Friesland Campina and sales experience in the genome sequencing space as Sales Account Manager for Macrogen Europe.

Chalene Ehlers

HR MANAGER

Chalene focuses on HR at Single Cell Discoveries. She has come all the way from South Africa where she obtained her qualification in Marketing and Business Management. She has a strong background in customer relations and staff management. Her management expertise stems from various senior management positions, where she was responsible for excellence, HR duties and the general management. For her hobbies, Chalene loves to scuba dive, cuddle with her fur babies, walks, and meeting new people.

Victor Swartz

IT INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGER

Victor is managing all technical infrastructure for IT services for Single Cell Discoveries. His focus is mainly on engaging with suppliers and vendors to understand the technology choices for Single Cell Discoveries with a focus on a medium or long-term strategy. He is also bringing many services in-house that were previously managed by our former IT partner. Victor has a variety of industry-recognized certifications from AWS, Cisco, Fortinet, Microsoft, and others, and he is always looking forward to the next technical challenge to master.