Paul Krediet graduated cum laude from medical school (University of Amsterdam) in 2005. As a Dr. E. Dekker Laureate on behalf of the Netherlands Heart Foundation, he completed the research studies he started while at medical school that now compromise this thesis. In 2006-2007 he spent six months as a fulbright scholar at the laboratory for Human and Integrative Physiology at Mayo Clinic (Minnesota, USA). Currently he has started residency in internal medicine.