Rate My Professor Willow de Jonge

Willow de Jonge serves as a research academic within the Department of Physiology at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. The department, housed in the Lindo Ferguson Building on 270 Great King Street, is part of the School of Biomedical Sciences in the Division of Health Sciences. As a member of the HeartOtago research group, her work contributes to advancing knowledge in cardiovascular physiology and related biomedical fields. Her professional contact information includes a direct dial number of +64 3 556 5323 and email address willow.dejonge@otago.ac.nz.

In her research endeavors, Willow de Jonge has been involved in developing methods for isolating extracellular vesicles from complex biological fluids. A key publication co-authored by her is "Combination of precipitation and size exclusion chromatography as an effective method for exosome-like extracellular vesicle isolation from pericardial fluids," published on April 2, 2023, in the journal Nanotheranostics (volume 7, issue 4, pages 345-352). This study addressed a critical challenge in EV research: the lack of standardized protocols for isolating EVs from human biological fluids where they exist at low densities. The researchers tested precipitation and size exclusion chromatography (SEC) methods. Precipitation yielded high quantities but low purity, as assessed by dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), immunogold labelling, and western blotting for exosomal markers. SEC produced pure EVs but in low concentrations. The combination of precipitation followed by SEC achieved high yields with good purity, suggesting it as an effective approach for future studies. The collaborative effort involved Dhananjie Chandrasekera, Rishi Shah, Isabelle van Hout, Willow De Jonge, Richard Bunton, Dominic Parry, Philip Davis, and Rajesh Katare from the Department of Physiology, HeartOtago, and the Cardiothoracic Surgery group at the University of Otago. This work underscores the potential of EVs as biomarkers and therapeutic tools in cardiac diseases. Furthermore, Willow De Jonge's academic output includes investigations into the epicardial adipose tissue secretome's role and obesity's impact on atrial fibrillation, contributing to her total of two research works garnering 22 citations on ResearchGate.