Theodora Kristoforus

PhD Candidate

Theodora graduated as a medical doctor from Atma Jaya Catholic University of
Indonesia. Her medical practice and academic work inspired her to become a
researcher to provide better care for patients. In 2021, she moved to the
Netherlands to pursue her master’s degree in biomedical sciences (majoring in
molecular medicine), funded by a scholarship from the government. During her
master’s program, she completed two research internships. For her first
internship at Radboud University Medical Center, she performed a project that
concerned gene delivery with adenoviral vectorsin tumor-on-a-chip models. For
the second internship at KU Leuven, she worked on CRISPR/Cas9-based gene
therapy using adeno-associated viral vectors and virus-like particles for STAT1
gain-of-function disease.

To further contribute to biomedical research, starting from February 2024, she
works in the MicroOrgano-Lab as a PhD candidate. She is part of the Marie
Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MCSA) Doctoral Network GET-IN (GEne Therapy
INnovation Training Network). Her research focuses on the efficacy and safety
assessment of gene therapy in organ-on-chip systems.

In her free time, Theodora enjoys playing the piano, reading books and travelling.

Publications

T.I. Maulana, N.R. Wevers, T. Kristoforus, M. Chandler, H. L Lanz, J. Joore, P. Vulto, R. Villenave, S. Kustermann, P. Loskill, K. M Bircsak
Opportunities for microphysiological systems in toxicity testing of new drug modalities
Annu. Rev. Pharmacol. Toxicol., 2025, 65, 47-69, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-pharmtox-061724-080621

H. Castañé, C. Spangenberger, I. Rodrigues de Souza, T. Kristoforus, L. Lazarevski, J. Yim, M. Cipriano, S. Toftegaard Hjuler, A. Ozkan, T. Petrie, Q. Jin, P. Loskill
Adipose Tissue-on-Chip platforms for disease modelling, drug discovery and pharmacokinetic modelling
Adv Drug Deliv Rev, 2026, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addr.2026.115971