Ron M.J.M. Smits, PhD
Assistant Professor

Contact details:
Room L-457
Fax. +31-10-7032793
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Ron Smits studied Biomedical Sciences at the University of Leiden, The Netherlands (1985-1992). He performed his PhD study and Postdoctoral training at the Department of Human Genetics of the Leiden University. His thesis entitled "APC and cancer: It takes two to tango" was successfully defended in 2002 (cum laude). Beginning of 2003, he joined Genentech Inc., South San Francisco, CA, as a research scientist to establish and characterize spontaneous intestinal tumor models. Here, he also developed the research line to investigate the cross-talk between receptor tyrosine kinases and ß-catenin signaling in cancer for which he was awarded a Vidi (ZonMW) grant in 2004. This work was performed as assistant professor in the Department of Pathology of the Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Since January 2008, he is a staff member at the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology of the Erasmus MC, where he focuses on molecular mechanisms contributing to intestinal tumor formation and metastasis.

Selected references:

• van Veelen W, Le NH, Helvensteijn W, Blonden L, Theeuwes M, Bakker ER, Franken PF, van Gurp L, Meijlink F, van der Valk MA, Kuipers EJ, Fodde R, Smits R.
  {beta}-catenin tyrosine 654 phosphorylation increases Wnt signalling and intestinal tumorigenesis.
  Gut. 2011 Feb 9.
• Robanus-Maandag E, Koelink P, Breukel C, Salvatori D, Jagmohan-Changur S, Bosch C, Verspaget H, Devilee P, Fodde R, Smits R.
  A new conditional Apc mutant mouse model for colorectal cancer.
  Carcinogenesis;May;31(5):946-52 (2010).
  
• Albuquerque C, Breukel C, van der Luijt R, Fidalgo P, Lage P, Slors FJ, Leitao CN, Fodde R, Smits R
  The 'just-right' signaling model: APC somatic mutations are selected based on a specific level of activation of the beta-catenin signaling cascade.
  Hum Mol Genet 11, 1549-1560 (2002)
• Roth S, Franken P, van Veelen W, Blonden L, Raghoebir L, Beverloo B, van Drunen E, Kuipers EJ, Rottier R, Fodde R, Smits R
  Generation of a tightly regulated doxycycline-inducible model for studying mouse intestinal biology.
  Genesis. Jan;47(1),7-13, (2009)
  
• Kielman MF, Rindapaa M, Gaspar C, van Poppel N, Breukel C, van Leeuwen S, Taketo MM, Roberts S, Smits R, Fodde R
  Apc modulates embryonic stem-cell differentiation by controlling the dosage of beta-catenin signaling.
  Nat Genet 32, 594-605 (2002)
  
• Fodde R, Smits R, Clevers H
  APC, signal transduction and genetic instability in colorectal cancer.
  Nat Rev Cancer 1, 55-67 (2001)

Do a PubMed search for references by Ron Smits.

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