Lecture | Tuesday Talks: Science Insights
Cancelled: Breaking the Cycle of Heart Attacks
- Date
- Tuesday 10 June 2025
- Time
- Address
-
Gorlaeus Building
Einsteinweg 55
2333 CC Leiden - Room
- CM1.26
This edition of Tuesday Talk is cancelled due to the national Higher Education strike planned for 10 June. Ilze Bot’s talk will be rescheduled to a later date, likely in autumn 2025. Staff and students of the faculty, as well as those who signed up for the mailing list, will automatically receive an email in the run-up to the talk.
Why do heart attacks and strokes remain a threat—even in patients receiving treatment? These life-threatening events are often caused by unstable plaques in the blood vessels, which can suddenly rupture. While cholesterol-lowering medication reduces the risk, it’s not always enough. A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that the immune system may hold the key to understanding—and preventing—these dangerous complications.
Join us for this Tuesday Talk, where Professor Ilze Bot will explore how certain immune cells play a role in atherosclerosis, and what new treatment strategies might help to reduce the risk of sudden cardiovascular events.
Programme
The programme of the Tuesday Talks: Science Insights is:
| 15.45 hrs | Take a seat |
| 16.00 hrs | Tuesday Talks: Science Insights |
| 17.00 hrs | Drinks |
A Closer Look at Plaque Instability
In her research at the LACDR’s Biotherapeutics division, Ilze Bot investigates how immune cells—particularly mast cells—affect the development of atherosclerosis, and how they can contribute to the instability of plaques in blood vessels. Using both human tissue samples and experimental models, her team investigates how these cells behave and how they can be targeted to reduce risk.
In this talk, she will explain the challenges of studying such a complex disease and share new insights into how immune cells could be the key to preventing heart attacks and strokes.
About the speaker
Ilze Bot is Professor of Cardiovascular Pharmacology at Leiden University. She leads research at the intersection of immunology, vascular biology and pharmacology, focusing on the role of immune cells in atherosclerosis. At the LACDR’s Division of Biotherapeutics, her team works to find new ways to stabilise plaques and reduce the incidence of cardiovascular events.
About Tuesday Talks: Science Insights
Tuesday Talks: Science Insights is Leiden Science’s monthly dose of research inspiration from our staff, for our staff and all others curious minds. Every second Tuesday of the month from 16:00 hrs till 17:00 hrs, drinks and meet up afterwards till 18.00 hrs.