T:B Cell lab

Curriculum Vitae

DEGREES

  • SMBWO Immunologist – University of Utrecht    –   Utrecht, the Netherlands
        2010-2016 Immunologist (Biomedical Scientific Research Training, SMBWO), an immunology training program of the National Foundation for the Promotion and Maintenance of a System of Training Programmes for Biomedical Scientists.

  • Ph.D. – University of Utrecht   –    Utrecht, the Netherlands
        2010-2015, Doctor of Philosophy,  October 2015. Laboratory for Translational Immunology
        Ph.D. Thesis: “T cell reconstitution after lymphopenia, does the immune system forgive and forget?”.  Copy of Thesis

  • M.D. – University of Utrecht    –   Utrecht, the Netherlands
        2000-2006, Medical Degree

CURRENT CLINICAL & RESEARCH POSITIONS

  • Medical microbiologist – Since July 2022
    • Saltro / Unilabs – Utrecht, the Netherlands
    • Primary Care Diagnostic Center
  • Assistant Professor / Group leader – Since Nov 2023
    • Center for Translational Immunology – Utrecht, the Netherlands
    • Focus of T:B cell interactions within human lymphoid structures

PRIOR CLINICAL & RESEARCH POSITIONS

  • Senior postdoctoral fellow – Utrecht, the Netherlands
    – July 2022 – Nov 2023 Center for Translation Immunology. Supervisor: Prof. F. van Wijk

  • Clinical Resident in Medical Microbiology–  Utrecht, the Netherlands.
    – July 2020 – July 2022, continuation of residency after post-doc in the USA
    – April 2015 – Dec. 2017, University Medical Center of Utrecht, Department of Medical Microbiology.

  • Post-Doctoral Fellow, Boston Children’s Hospital/ Harvard Medical School – Boston, MA, USA.
    – Jan. 2018 – June 2020,  Department of Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine (PCMM). Topic: Regulation of B-cell Epitope migration and Autoimmunity by T follicular helper cells (Beat). Supervisor: Prof. M.C. Carroll.

  • Ph.D. student, June 2010 – April 2015. University of Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
    – Visiting Scientist, Weizmann Institute of Science – Rehovot, Israel
    Dec. 2012 – Jan. 2013. Dept. of Immunology,
    Topic: Development of B-cell autoreactivity following neonatal thymectomy, Supervisor: Prof. I.R. Cohen
    – Visiting Scientist, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute – San Diego, USA
    Apr. 2011 – May 2011. Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases Center,
    Topic: Epitope-specific Immune Therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis. Supervisor: Prof. S. Albani

  • Research Fellow (Fulbright scholar)
    – Oct. 2007-June 2010, Topic: Epitope-specific Immune Therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis. Supervisor: Prof. S. Albani
    * University of California, Dept. of Medicine, San Diego, CA. USA
    * the University of Arizona, Arizona Arthritis Center, Tucson, AZ. USA
    * Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases Center, San Diego, CA. USA

  • Clinical Resident Pediatric Medicine – Utrecht, the Netherlands.
    – Oct. 2006- Sept. 2007 University Medical Center Utrecht, Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, Utrecht, the Netherlands

NON-ACADEMIC POSITIONS


Current

  • Member of the Clinical & Experimental Immunology Early Career Researcher Editorial Board
    – April 2022 – present
    – Responsible for reviewing original (clinical) immunology-focused articles
  • Advisory board member – Journal of Life Sciences, a postdoc community initiative.
    – Jan 2021 – present
    – As co-founder of the journal joined the advisory board to advise on the short- and long-term goals of JoLS.
  • Founding Board member yNVVI (Dutch Society of Young Immunologists)
    – December 2020 – present
    – Jan 2024 – present, Chair of youngNVVI
    – To bring together all early career immunologists within the Dutch Society of Immunology
  • Early Career Peer Reviewer for eLife (competitive position)
    – December 2019 – present
    – Responsible for reviewing original (clinical) immunology-focused articles

Past

  • Member Taskforce yEFIS (young European Foundation Immunology Society) – link
    – December 2020 – Jan 2023
    – To bring all the young immunology groups together and build a European network to defend their interests on both a national and European level
  • Ambassador for Immunopaedia
    – January 2019 – 2023
    – Immunopaedia is a non-profit educational website that aims to promote cutting-edge knowledge and research in basic and clinical immunology worldwide. (1)(2)(3)
  • Member of the ‘Van Bekkum Thesis award’ committee
    – 2022, 2023
  • Editor in Chief & Co-founder – Journal of Life Sciences, a postdoc community initiative.
    – June 2019 – Dec 2020
    – Responsible for: Review process, Journal visibility, Editorial board recruitment, etc
  • Board Member – Harvard Medical Postdoc Association (HPMA)
    – November 2018 – June 2020
    – The goal is to unite postdocs in their common interests and shared concerns to improve the postdoctoral experience
  • Editor in Chief – Post Doc Journal (Journal of Postdoctoral Research)
    – August 2018 – June 2019
    – Responsible for: Review process, Journal visibility, Editorial board recruitment, etc

AWARDS

Grants/Scholarships

  • 2023: ZonMw VENI personal fellowship (3-year funding)
    – Project: Boosting the interaction between T and B cells in young children, UMC Utrecht, the Netherlands
  • 2023, WKZ Research Fund (2-year funding)
    – Project: Boosting pediatric immunity: building a strong relationship between young T and B cell, UMC Utrecht, the Netherlands
  • 2021, Infection & Immunity Grant Boost
    – Project: To unravel the role of innate signals in the (pre-)differentiation and function of naive T cells. UMC Utrecht, the Netherlands
  • 2018, Marie Curie Individual Global Fellowship (H2020-MSCA-IF-GF-2017), 3-year personal fellowship.
    – Project: Regulation of B-cell Epitope migration and Autoimmunity by T follicular helper cells (Beat)  Harvard Medical School/Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
  • 2017, Royal Dutch Academy of Science (KNAW, Ter Meulen), 5-month work visit scholarship.
    –     Project: The mechanistic role of complement in the initiation of adaptive immune responses towards pneumococcus. Harvard Medical School/Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
  • 2012, Dutch Society of Immunology (NVvI), 2-month work visit scholarship.
    –     Project: Natural development of autoantibody repertoire. Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
  • 2012, Royal Dutch Academy of Science (KNAW, Ter Meulen), 2-month work visit scholarship.
    –     Project: Natural development of autoantibody repertoire. Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
  • 2007, Fulbright Scholarship.
    – Project: Immune modulatory mechanisms in oral tolerance induction in rheumatoid arthritis via epitope-specific therapy. The University of California, San Diego (UCSD), CA, USA & University of Arizona (UofA), Tucson, AZ, USA
  • 2007, Prince Bernhard Culture Foundation (From the Carolus Magnus Foundation) scholarship.
    –     Project: Immune modulatory mechanisms in oral tolerance induction in rheumatoid arthritis via epitope-specific therapy. The University of California, San Diego (UCSD), CA, USA & University of Arizona (UofA), Tucson, AZ, USA

Travel grants

  • 2012, Travel grant for oral presentation at PReS symposium (Pediatric Rheumatology European Society), Genoa, Italy.
  • 2010, Travel grant for oral presentation at TRiPR symposium (Translational Research in Pediatric Rheumatology), Genoa, Italy.

Honors/Awards

  • 2022-02, selected for Talent Research Career Development Program [link]
  • 2021-09, Alumnus of the month – University of Utrecht [link]
  • 2021-08, Fellow of the Week – selected by Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions  [link]
  • 2021-04, Ambassador of the month at Immunopaedia, selected on my contributions towards immunology education, link
  • 2015, FOCIS Centre of Excellence Award (Federation of Clinical Immunology Society), San Diego, CA, USA.

COURSES

  • Talent Research Career Development Program (10-day course), 2023
  • Science Education – Undergraduate mentoring Workshop series (3-day workshop), 2020
  • Postdoc to Principle Investigator – Establishing Your Academic Lab (1-day workshop), 2020
  • Leadership and Management Skills Course for Scientists (1-day course), 2019
  • Introduction to Omics Research (4-month online course), 2019
  • Scientists Teaching Science (9-week online course), 2018
  • Masterclass Vaccinology (2-day course), 2017
  • Antibiotic Therapy in Practice (3-day course), 2016
  • Diagnostics in Medical Parasitology (2-week course), 2015
  • Advanced Immunology (5-day course), 2014
  • Advanced Infection biology (4-day course), 2013
  • Good Clinical Practice (GCP/BROK) (3-day course), 2011
  • Animal Welfare (Art. 9) (2-week course), 2011
  • Medical Ethics (3-month course), 2002

MEMBERSHIPS

  • The Royal Dutch Society for Microbiology (KNVM), 2015 – present
  • Understanding Childhood Arthritis Network (UCAN-U), 2012 – present
  • The Dutch Society for Immunology (NVvI), 2010 – present
  • The European Society for Clinical Investigation (ESCI), 2019 – 2020
  • The American Association of Immunologists (AAI), 2018-2020
  • National Postdoctoral Association (NPA), 2018- 2020
  • The Dutch Society for Microbiology (NVvM), 2015 – 2024
  • Pediatric Rheumatology European Society (PRES), 2010 – 2013
  • Federation of Clinical Immunology Society (FOCIS), 2008-2010, 2015

OUTREACH

  • Webcast: How to do a great review – Nature, 2021
  • An opinion article in popular science magazine ‘The Scientist‘, “We have been Naive about Naive T cells”, 2018.
  • Publication in ‘Paraplu’, a national magazine for patients with congenital and acquired immune disorders and their families (in Dutch), “Creating a new and healthy immune system”, 2016.
  • Seminar about immunology at secondary school (>100 students), the Netherlands.
    2016: How do vaccinations work and are they needed?
    2015: Development of auto-immunity
  • Lecture to Rheumatoid arthritis patients and members of the Arizona Arthritis Center, ‘Living healthy with arthritis Lecture series‘ (Tucson, AZ), 2009.

TEACHING

  • Scientists teaching Science course: 9-week online course on learning styles, effective instructional strategies, and elements of curriculum design for teaching STEM subjects in higher education – at Harvard University (2018)
  • Teaching undergraduate medical student classes in Infection & Immunity, yearly (2010- 2017, 2024)
  • Teaching insights in microbiology and basic immunology to technicians and students, yearly (2015-2017)