• 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
  

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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)