Miss Jirka Cops

Jirka Cops is a PhD candidate in Biomedical Sciences at Hasselt University, Belgium. During her PhD, she first developed a clinically relevant and validated rat model of "selective abdominal venous congestion" (IVCc model) to investigate cardiorenal interactions. As a result of limited knowledge regarding the impact of congestion on organ function in patients, management is challenging and specific treatment options are warranted. In this respect, exercise training could be a promising non-pharmacological therapeutic strategy in congestion-related diseases. In the second part of her PhD project, Jirka implemented moderate intensity endurance exercise training in this IVCc rat model, to investigate the effects of n exercise intervention on venous congestion and on heart and kidney function.