Wigard Kloosterman

Wigard Kloosterman PhD is Professor of Human Genetics at the University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU) and leads the Cancer Genomics group within the Department of Genetics. He is internationally recognised for his work on structural variation in cancer genomes, particularly the discovery and characterisation of chromothripsis — a catastrophic chromosomal rearrangement event in which tens to hundreds of structural rearrangements occur in a single cell division event. Kloosterman's group developed computational tools and sequencing strategies to detect and classify complex structural variants, including those arising from chromothripsis, chromoplexy, and BFB (breakage-fusion-bridge) cycles. His laboratory has been at the forefront of applying long-read sequencing technologies (Oxford Nanopore and PacBio) to resolve complex genomic rearrangements that are inaccessible to short-read platforms, enabling phased characterisation of tumour genomes. He contributed major analyses to the PCAWG consortium on structural variant signatures and the prevalence of chromothripsis across cancer types. Kloosterman's work bridges discovery genomics and clinical implementation, with his group developing Whole Genome Sequencing-based diagnostics for paediatric cancers and leukaemias within the Dutch national cancer genomics programme (Hartwig Medical Foundation / WGS500).