Our Team
The PREhealth team is filled to the brim with enthusiastic, motivated, and patient-oriented students, experts, and volunteers. Read about our story and see some of our faces below!
Our Story
The students involved in PREhealth are all in health-related programmes, including biomedical sciences, midwifery, and medicine. They started working as a team from the start of the 2020 edition of the Maastricht University Honours programme at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, under the supervision of associate professor Dr. Masoud Zamani Esteki, who heads the Laboratory of Cellular Genomic Medicine. Together, they embarked on a journey to improve accessibility to women's and pregnant people's health resources, especially focusing on patient groups that are often overlooked.
Moreover, we're looking to recruit enthusiastic volunteers to help support our work. If you're interested to learn more about this, please don't hesitate to shoot us a message.
We aim to become a legal foundation in the near future, to ensure sustainable engagement.
This team will soon be joined by experts in health, such as physicians in reproductive care. This way, we combine the fresh new insights of tomorrow's healthcare and research professionals with the established expertise of today's professionals.
One of our team members presented this project to an audience of experts in the field at the 2022 edition of the Next-Generation Reproductive Medicine workshop (Maastricht, NL). Watch the recording here!
Meet The Team
Translators
Italian
Alessandra Papitto
Noemi Di Rubbo
Spanish
Sol Gonzalez Capilla
German
Sophie Oppelt (alumnus)
Selina Voẞen (alumnus)
Urdu
Alizeh Ahsan (alumnus)
Turkish
Yasemin Kaya (alumnus)
Sena Nur Arduc (alumnus)
Dutch
Juliëtte Gossens (alumnus)
Noemi Di Rubbo
Rueben Groot
Paula Willems
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Dr. Masoud Zamani Esteki
Associate Professor & Project Supervisor
Masoud’s research lies at the intersection of classical genetics, molecular and developmental genetics, clinical genetics, bioinformatics, and artificial intelligence. During the course of his (post)doctoral research, he invented methods to study genome instability in early human development with applications in the clinic, such as preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) and non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT). Specifically, he has been developing, applying and translating integrative wet- and dry-lab approaches that uncover the genome’s allelic architecture in samples derived from many cells down to a single cell. Some of these technologies are now being used as routine diagnostic genetic tests. See Masoud's hope and vision for the field here.
Masoud leads the Cellular Genomic Medicine (CGM) group. CGM has several lines of active research centered around progressive innovation in Reproductive Medicine, e.g. development and application of novel methods for characterizing different molecular layers, their interplay and connectivity, and their impact on cellular identity and function, in particular at early stages of life. CGM constantly explores new avenues towards translating their research into the clinic.
Hey, I am Noemi, and I am in my second year of Medicine at Maastricht University. I am originally from Italy but have lived in Germany for a big part of my life. Growing up in different countries has given me valuable experiences and perspectives, which ultimately inspired me to study in Maastricht. I have always been interested in the field of healthcare, and through my studies I realized more and more how important it is for patients to have access to clear and accessible information. I believe that giving individuals the knowledge to make informed decisions is essential, which is why I chose to be part of the PreHealth team. Outside of medicine I love to spend my time travelling, spending time with friends, and playing the piano.
Noemi Di Rubbo
Video-making Group
Hey, I am Sol, a European Public Health student at Maastricht University. I was born and raised in Valencia, Spain, and then I did high school in Denmark until coming to Maastricht for university. I am an individual driven to explore and learn, and I like to seek out as many opportunities as I can, so I decided to take part in the Honour Programme. Through my university time, I have taken part in EUnitas Student Association and been an FHML ambassador, among other project-oriented extracurriculars. In my free time I enjoy reading (my favorite novel is Pachinko by Min Jin Lee), and I will take every chance I get to live abroad (I am writing this text in the Singapore Airport after completing my exchange in Hong Kong). I am very excited and happy to be part of the PreHealth team!
Sol Gonzalez Capilla
Out-reach Group
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Hi! I am Anastasija, a Bachelor’s student in biomedical sciences at Maastricht University. Originally from Latvia, I moved to the Netherlands to pursue my education and follow my interest in science. I believe that scientific knowledge should be accessible and easy to understand so it could help to improve people’s life quality and well-being. That is why I am happy to be part of the PREhealth team. In my free time, I enjoy reading, exercising, and travelling.
Anastasija Domaševa
Content Creation
Hi! My name is Paula, and I’m currently in the third year of my midwifery studies. I’m set to graduate in 2026, and I’m really looking forward to becoming a midwife and guiding women—with or without their partners—through pregnancy and everything that comes with it.
This is also what motivated me to join the PREhealth project. During my internships, I’ve noticed that a lot of information—whether online, in books, or in brochures—isn’t always translated or written in a way that’s easy for everyone to understand. I believe this is something that deserves more attention, and I hope our group can contribute to improving this.
Outside of my studies, I enjoy cooking, cycling, and spending time with my family and boyfriend.
Paula Willems
Out-reach Group
Hello everyone!
My name is Oreoluwatawa and I am a biomedical sciences student at Maastricht University. I was born and raised in Nigeria but decided to come to the Netherlands to pursue a degree in the sciences. I’m rational, sociable, and generally welcoming. Additionally, I am a goal-driven individual, which led me to join the Honours Programme and the PreHealth team. I believe this project to be a way to better society by letting people understand the reproductive choices they have, and with the wonderful team I hope we can make an impact and leave our footprints in the sand of time.
In my free time I enjoy cooking, reading, crocheting and enjoying nature.
Oreoluwatawa Adeboye
Video-making Team
Hey everyone!
I’m Poorvi, and I’m currently also in my second year of Medicine here in Maastricht. I am originally from India, but was born and have lived in the Netherlands my whole life, eventually leading me to Maastricht University :) I have had the privilege of growing up with a solid education, which for many of us is the norm. However, I have also seen how easy it is to stay trapped in this “bubble” without realizing that there is still a large discrepancy in knowledge in this world. Because of this, I wanted to dive deeper into understanding and improving the gaps in knowledge in the medical world and found PREhealth to be a great way of stepping into this field.
Outside of university in my free time, I love travelling, playing sports, and spending time with my friends!
Poorvi Srinadam
Out-reach Group
Hello!
My name is Rueben, and I’m a European Public Health student at Maastricht University. I was born and raised in Australia, but I now live in the Netherlands and hope to pursue a career in future health policy advocacy. I love examining the meso and macro levels of health, and I am enjoying looking at various levels of health literacy within the PreHealth program. I am ambitious, hard-working, and curious, and I love experiencing all the different aspects PreHealth offers. I have worked ar various NGO’s with a mission to fight child exploitation and improve literacy for children and adults. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out!
Rueben Groot
Content Creation