Acknowledgements I would like to convey my heartfelt gratitude and

Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
I would like to convey my heartfelt gratitude and sincere appreciation to
all people who have helped and inspired me during my doctoral study. This thesis
would not have been possible without those supports from many people.
First of all I would like to thank to my promotor, Prof. Dr. Robert H.
Henning, for his endless guidance during my research and study at Groningen
University. His perpetual energy and enthusiasm in research extremely
motivated me in my studies. In addition, he was always accessible and willing to
help not only his students, but also other young scientists with their research. As
a result, research life became smooth and rewarding for me. He showed me how
to dissect the challenges into as many different ways as possible and to look at
them from different angles. Dear Rob, your smart ideas and your bright input
have helped me in planning the experiments, in analyzing data and in
accelerating this thesis preparation. This thesis would not have been possible
without your extraordinary support. I owe you lots of gratitude for having shown
me how to be an ideal scientist, a good supervisor and a kind person. Although
this is the end of my stay in Groningen and still cannot pronounce “Lekker”, I am
glad that we now have a new joint project which allows me to keep in touch with
you and the Department of Clinical Pharmacology. I shall never forget the
moment when you showed me the shortest way to NIHA in Ankara. In fact this
clearly shows that there is still a lot to learn from you.
It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge to the guidance, valuable
suggestions, constructive criticism, and incredible patience of my promoters and
my co-supervisor: Prof. Dr. Wiek H. van Gilst, Dr. Regien G. Schoemaker, and
Dr. Hendrik Buikema. Your scientific excitement inspired me in the most
important moments of making right decisions and had significantly contributed
to this thesis. Thank you for trusting me.
My warmest thanks also go to Prof. Dr. Gerjan Navis. Dear Gerjan, I
deeply appreciate your work attitude and your work efficiency. It was a great
pleasure and honor to work with you. Your expertise in science helped me a lot in
many aspects from planning the studies till the final revision of the papers. I shall
be missing our research meetings at 7:30 am.
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I would like to thank the members of the reading committee, Prof. Dr. D.
de Zeeuw, Prof. Dr. A.H.J. Danser and Prof. Dr. H. Gurdal for the thorough and
critical judgment of this thesis.
I am deeply sorry to mention the death of my previous supervisor, Prof.
Dr. M. Oğuz Güç, who had an enormous impact on shaping my medical carrier as
a pharmacologist. I was a medical student when I met him. After my medical
school, he accepted me as a PhD fellow to his department. He was my supervisor,
but then became my brother and my friend. I shall miss him very much.
“Sevgili ağabeyim Oğuz,
Bu tez seninle çok daha kıymetli, çok daha özel olurdu. Hayatımın o
kadar çok yerinde senin parmak izlerin var ki bunlar bana ışık oldu, kalan
ömrümde de hep önümü aydınlatacak. Dört yıldan beri dönüp seninle
kaldığımız yerden devam etmeyi hayal ediyordum. Ben gelince, elinde ucu sivri
kurşun kalem teksir kağıdı bana yeniden birşeyler anlatacak, “r”sine basa basa
dolu dolu “farmakoloji” konuşacaktık. Boynunda asılı gözlüğünü ortasından
birleştirerek takacak, sonra tekrar çıkaracaktın. Seni aradığımda, sen yine
masan ve bilgisayarın arasında tekerlekli koltuğunu sürüyerek gidip gelecek,
“Söyle, Nadirusss!” diye telefonuna cevap verecektin. Yeni açılan kebapçıları
birlikte dolaşacak, Çamlıdere’ye ırgatlığa gidecek, sonra mangal ateşinde
memleket meselelerinden sanata kadar herşeyden konuşacaktık. Memleketimi
özler gibi, özlüyordum seni. Gözümün önünden bizden ayrılmana saatler kala
yaptığımız son konuşmamızdaki yüzün hiç gitmiyor Oğuz ağabey; yanına
erken uğradığım için şaşkın, yorgun ve hasretle baktın bana. Şimdi anlıyorum
ki o özlem dolu bakış dönünce yapamayacaklarımıza olan özlemmiş. Taşımakla
gurur duyduğun kar gibi beyaz ve ütülü önlüğünü senden teslim aldım.
Emanetlerine seninle yeniden buluşuncaya kadar gözüm gibi bakacağım, rahat
uyu biricik ağabeyim.”
Throughout my PhD studies at the Department of Clinical Pharmacology
the continuous and generous support from the members of academic staff: Dr.
Richard van Dokkum, Dr. Leo Deelman, Dr. Bianca Brundel, and technical staff:
Ardy Kuperus, Alexandra Doeglas, Ellen la Bastide, Wessel Sloof, Jan van der
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Acknowledgements
Akker, Rob Visser, Adriaan van Doorn, Obbe van der Wal, and Rieta SteemanPoelman is greatly appreciated.
Furthermore, the management team of GUIDE: Prof. Dr. Han Moshage,
Riekje Banus, Maaike Bansema, and Dr. Peter Braun have always been a constant
source of encouragement during my studies.
All my lab buddies at the Department of Clinical Pharmacology made it a
convivial place to work. In particular, I would like to thank Alex Kluppel, Marry
Duin, Maaike Goris, Azuwerus van Buiten, Jan Roggeveld, Bianca Meijeringh,
Jacko Duker, Antoinet Bruin, Linda van Genne, Edis Sabic, and Martin
Houwertjes for their friendship and help in the past four years. They all had
inspired me in research and life through our interactions during the long hours in
the lab.
Very special thanks also go to old AIO’s: Bart, Annemarieke, Erik, Peter,
Maria, Cheng, Ying, Mirjam, Willemijn, Bernadet, Rik, Hiddo, Irma, Hisko and
new AIO’s: Iryna, Peter, Diana, Maggie, Hjalmar, Roelien, Talaei, Sjoerd. Dear
Hjalmar, I deeply appreciate your help in Dutch summary. It was a great pleasure
for me to share the same room, same table, and same phone with you and also to
organize journal clubs together. Dear Sjoerd, it was a big fun to work with you in
the lab. I shall never forget the night you brought me dinner to the lab.
I also owe my sincere thanks to the people from EGFR meeting: Prof. Dr.
Harry van Goor, Dr. Marc Seelen, Dr. Jan-Luuk Hillebrands, Gemma Mulder,
Jeffrey Damman and Niels Huizing. I will be missing the atmosphere in our
meetings. I was also delighted to interact with our other collaborators, Dr.
Stephan Bakker, Dr. Tom Teerlink, and Dr. Freek J. Zijlstra. They all have a
significant input in the preparation of this thesis.
My deepest gratitude goes to my family for their unflagging love and
support throughout my life; this dissertation is simply impossible without them. I
am indebted to my wife, Dr. Hülya Özkan-Ulu, for her love, her understanding
and especially making it possible for me to get a PhD degree in the Netherlands.
She has been waiting my return with patience for last four years to become a
complete family. My dearest wife, this is the end of our wish and sorrows. As a
typical Turkish family, my father, Necati Ulu, and my mother, Sultan Ulu worked
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industriously to support me and spared no effort to provide the best possible
environment for me to grow up. I have no suitable word that can fully describe
my mother’s everlasting love to me. I remember many sleepless nights with her
accompanying me when I was studying for my final exams in the medical faculty.
I remember, most of all, her delicious dishes. I would like to thank my sister, Dr.
Hanım Ulu-Pekgöz as well for her constant support and trust. My family, I love
you.
Last but not least, I would like to thank my Turkish and International
friends in Groningen. Dear Can and Kanat, we did a lot together. We shared
many things; our drinks, foods, rooms, etc. but most of all we shared our
loneliness. I wish you a lot of happiness and a bright future together with your
families. Dear Burcu, many thanks for being a very close friend, a sister, and my
paranimph albeit you came a bit late. Dear Özlem, Aslı, Berfu, Onur, Piray,
Leonardo, Ebru, Sanem, Ozan, Araz, Hande, İdil, Nico, Simona, Giuseppe, Jelena
and Mira, you all helped me a lot in many aspects. You made my last four years
easier. This thesis would not have been possible without your friendship. I shall
miss you all.
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