During her valedictory speech, Klein Nulend discusses bone cell biology, which is actively utilized in the clinical practice of dentistry, orthopedics, rheumatology, implantology, and maxillofacial surgery. Her team conducted the first clinical study on stem cells to expedite bone growth in a diminished upper jaw. With the newly regenerated bone, they were able to place dental implants.
How bone cells respond
Thanks to her fundamental research, we know more about the function of various bone cell types responsible for bone growth and resorption. Klein Nulend developed a model system to precisely observe how bone cells respond to mechanical stimuli, such as chewing or movement. This led to new discoveries about the role of osteocytes as sensors in bone and how medications influence bone cell sensitivity to mechanical stress.
André Kuipers
Her work was acknowledged in 2004 when her experiment—examining how microgravity affects osteocytes—was conducted by astronaut André Kuipers during the Dutch Soyuz Mission. In a society with an increasing elderly population and a rising incidence of musculoskeletal diseases, bone research is crucial. Jenneke Klein Nulend will elaborate more on this in her valedictory speech.