Pieter A. Doevendans became a cardiologist in Maastricht (trained by H. Wellens) after his medical training at the Leiden University. In 1993-1994 he had the opportunity to work with Ken Chien at the University of California San Diego, where the work on embryonic stem cells started. The work was completed in Maastricht and provided the basis for a thesis on the function of the promoter of the atrial Myosin Light Chain gene. Upon return in The Netherlands he worked with Christine Mummery and Hans Clevers on both human Embryonic as well as human Cardiac stem cells. The focus of the department of cardiology is on Cardiac Failure, Stem Cells and Genetics. He was funded by various national and international foundations. Thus far (2017) he published more than 700 peer reviewed papers and 11 books.