Newsletter I&I nieuws
Sep 13: I&I Annual Scientific Meeting
On September 13, the 5th annual symposium of the strategic program Infection & Immunity took place at Villa Jongerius in Utrecht. It was a buzzing face-to-face meeting with about 110 colleagues attending. The symposium was hosted by Maaike van Mourik (Dept. of Medical Microbiology) and Marc Bonten, who kicked off as I&I chair with an update of the strategic program.
Read moreSep 1: Modelling the burden and transmission of antibiotic resistance and prevention of COVID-19
Antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and COVID-19 are both important infectious diseases of the 21st century. The burden and transmission of ARB and prevention of COVID-19 were thoroughly investigated with help of mathematical modelling in the PhD research by Noor Godijk (Research Program Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases, UMC Utrecht).
Read moreSep 1: Unravelling the complexity of psoriatic arthritis on a journey towards precision medicine
Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) is a complex, musculoskeletal disease, characterized by a heterogeneous clinical phenotype and variable disease course. The PhD research by Juliëtte Pouw (Department of Rheumatology & Clinical Immunology and Center for Translational Immunology, UMC Utrecht) discusses recent advances to unravel the complexity of PsA, on a journey towards precision medicine.
Read moreAug 1: Karijn Suijkerbuijk appointed as Professor of Immunotherapy
Internist-oncologist Karijn Suijkerbuijk of UMC Utrecht has been appointed professor of Immunotherapy of Solid Tumors effective August 1, 2022. This was announced by the Executive Board of Utrecht University. In this interview she explains how immunotherapy works, what makes this relatively new treatment so special and what she wants to achieve as a professor.
Read moreJun 30: A systems approach to unraveling progenitor potential and disease-associated immune cell networks
Utilizing existing publicly available datasets and clever bioinformatic approaches, PhD student Abhinandan Devaprasad uncovered the immune cells' underlying mechanism, function, and position under the umbrella of the hematopoietic stem cell differentiation tree. Additionally, a valuable resource was provided called the immunome – the most extensive compendium of healthy human immune cells. Furthermore, a computer-based tool was developed to dissect the immunome and to identify disease-associated cells, genes, and drug targets for repurposing.
Read moreJun 28: PhD research on killer cell granzymes sheds new light on cancer development, immunoregulation and immunotherapy
Research at the Department of Pathology at UMC Utrecht has further unraveled the role of killer cell granzymes in cancer development, immunoregulation, and immunotherapy. Fresh PhD Shuang Li concluded that continued exploration of both intracellular and extracellular granzyme functions has the potential to facilitate (immune-)therapy in the treatment of cancer patients.
Read moreJan 13: How opsonins drive bacterial uptake
Modulation of the antibody response can influence the immune response more than previously thought, and also can better direct complement deposition. Cooperation between opsonins is therefore a fundamental aspect to be considered in the development of future anti-infectious strategies. This was concluded by Elena Boero who defended her PhD thesis on January 13 in Utrecht.
Read moreInhibitors and immune tolerance induction in hemophilia A
Immune Tolerance Induction (ITI) seems a feasible therapy to treat patients with haemophilia A that develop inhibitors to clotting. The working mechanism of ITI seems to be successful restoration of regulatory B cells. This was concluded in the thesis by Sarah Schep at UMC Utrecht who received her PhD degree on December 23, 2021.
Read moreFrank Coenjaerts awarded with Hymans-van den Berg Education Prize
This year's Hymans-van den Berg Education Prize has been awarded to Frank Coenjaerts. Education is one of the three core tasks of UMC Utrecht and this prestigious prize makes it clear that Frank does this exceptionally well. This token of recognition reflects on the entire Department of Medical Microbiology.
Read moreUMC Utrecht appoints clinical scientists
As of December 3, eighteen clinical scientists have been appointed in the UMC Utrecht. These are UMC Utrecht healthcare providers with interest and proven expertise in conducting scientific research. Divisions and strategic programs have nominated the candidates for this new role. They have been given the opportunity to devote 40 percent of their time to research for five years, guaranteed. From strategic program I&I, the following colleagues have been appointed: Lennie Derde, Mienke Rijsdijk, Maaike van Mourik, András Spaan, Karijn Suijkerbuijk, Helen Leavis and Bas Vastert.
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