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
CLINICAL & RESEARCH POSITIONS
- Clinical Resident in Medical Microbiology– Utrecht, the Netherlands.
– July 2020 – current, 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
– To bring together all early career immunologists within the Dutch Society of Immunology - Member Taskforce yEFIS (young European Foundation Immunology Society) – link
– December 2020 – present
– To bring all the young immunology groups together and build a European network to defend their interests on both a national and European level - Early Career Peer Reviewer for eLife (competitive position)
– December 2019 – present
– Responsible for reviewing original (clinical) immunology-focused articles - Ambassador for Immunopaedia
– January 2019 – present
– 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)
Past
- Member of the ‘Van Bekkum Thesis award’ committee
– Dec 2022 - 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 in order 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
- 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
- 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 European Society for Clinical Investigation (ESCI), 2019 – present
- The American Association of Immunologists (AAI), 2018-present.
- National Postdoctoral Association (NPA), 2018- present
- The Dutch Society for Microbiology (NVvM), 2015 – present
- 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
- Pediatric Rheumatology European Society (PRES), 2010 – 2013
- Federation of Clinical Immunology Society (FOCIS), 2008-2010, 2015
OUTREACH
- 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.
- Yearly 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/SUPERVISION
- 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)
- Since 2008, supervised 10 students in research projects and thesis (bachelor) writing.
- Teaching undergraduate medical student classes in Infection & Immunity, yearly (2010- 2017)
- Teaching insights in microbiology and basic immunology to technicians and students, yearly (2015-2017)