Ruth Meex

Background

About Ruth Meex

I work as an Associate Professor at the Department of Human Biology at Maastricht University, the Netherlands. My research focuses on understanding the mechanisms underlying liver fat accumulation and exploring how inter-organ communication between the liver and skeletal muscle influences insulin sensitivity and muscle mass in men and women. During my PhD, I gained a strong foundation in conducting complex clinical trials. Specifically, I used insulin-sensitizing and -desensitizing interventions in humans, such as exercise training, lipid infusion, and salsalate treatment, to gain insight into the mechanisms underlying muscle insulin resistance. My postdoctoral research broadened my expertise by focusing on mechanisms of action in cell biology and animal models. Since starting as an Assistant Professor in 2016 and being promoted to Associate Professor in 2019, I have further developed and refined my diverse skill set. This combination of clinical and experimental expertise enables me to conduct translational research, integrating findings from cellular models and human studies to deepen mechanistic understanding. I graduated as a professional nurse from Zuyd Hogeschool Heerlen (the Netherlands) in 2003 and obtained a Master’s degree in Movement Sciences from Maastricht University in 2005. I completed my PhD in the lab of Profs. Matthijs Hesselink and Patrick Schrauwen at Maastricht University, successfully defending my thesis,'Lipid accumulation in skeletal muscle; big deal!' in September 2011. From 2010-2016, I worked as a post-doctoral fellow in the lab of Prof. Matthew Watt at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. In 2016, I joined the Department of Human Biology at Maastricht University, first as an Assistant Professor and later as an Associate Professor in 2019.