A new treatment for atherosclerosis showed promising results in isolated cells but proved to be less effective in initial animal tests. Bachelor student Biopharmaceutical Sciences Willemijn van der Heijden aimed to understand why. She investigated whether the formation of a protein layer around the…

Immunologist Leender Trouw specialises in the complement system, which is part of the immune system. In some diseases drugs help activate or inhibit this system. This is best done ‘in the right place at the right time’ − the title of his inaugural lecture.

Researchers and clinicians at Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) are about to begin a milestone clinical study. It will be the first time a stem cell gene therapy developed in the Netherlands is used in a clinic. The therapy will be used to treat children with SCID, a rare disorder where children…

Maria Yazdanbakhsh is professor in cellular immunology of parasitic infections and is the head of the department of Leiden University Center for Infectious Diseases (LUCID) at LUMC. She engages in basic and clinical research to understand host-pathogen interactions at the molecular, cellular and population…

Dr. Bart O. Roep is Professor of Diabetology, Immunopathology & Intervention and Director of the National Diabetes Center of Excellence at the Leiden University Medical Center in The Netherlands and Visiting Professor of the Danish Diabetes Academy. He is also Founding Chair and Professor of Medicine…

The research of Marieke Tollenaar involves the study of (neuro)biological processes that play a role in mental health, including stress hormones, epigenetics, and the immune system. She specifically focuses on the long-term consequences of early life stress and childhood maltreatment.

PhD defence

In het Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum wordt gewerkt aan de ontwikkeling van een nieuw malariavaccin dat effectiever is dan de huidige vaccins.

Leila Akkari was appointed Special Professor of Cancer-immune interactions at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC) on 15 December. Akkari is a researcher at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI), where she studies the relationship between cancer cells and the immune system, with a particular focus…

Tuberculosis bacteria survive by hiding in our immune cells. In her PhD research, biologist Salomé Muñoz Sánchez explores how boosting the body’s own defenses might outsmart this deadly pathogen. Her work reveals two key proteins that help immune cells destroy the bacteria.

Joost Beltman is assistant professor at the Division of Drug Discovery & Safety.

My research interest is focused on understanding how biological signal transduction functions at a molecular level. A central theme is the investigation of intercellular communication, particularly the communication of cells of one organism with another. For this a highly multidisciplinary approach…

Plant biologist Pingtao Ding, assistant professor at the Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL), has received a 2.4 million European grant from the European Research Council (ERC). This ERC Starting Grant for promising young researchers allows him to unravel the molecular mechanisms by which plants resist…

Infecting each other with viruses and bacteria while protecting yourself with medicines and vaccinations. Sounds like a fun evening, right? Master students Life Science & Technology Rafael Jezior and Dennis de Beeld certainly think so. Together, they developed ImmunoWars: an exciting card game based…

This page provides more information about the mentor-tutor system at Leiden University. What is it? What are its objectives? Where can mentors, tutors, and coordinators find more information and teaching materials?

Leiden University has a high rate of student success. The Leiden Study System was developed to help students study faster and more effectively. They receive the optimum support while choosing which programme to study and during their studies themselves.

Leiden University devotes a great deal of attention to the security of its systems. Nevertheless there may still be vulnerabilities in our systems. If you discover such a vulnerability, please let us know as soon as possible.

Piet van der Graaf was appointed as Professor of Systems Pharmacology in 2012. He is also Vice President and Head of Quantitative Systems Pharmacology (QSP) at Certara.

Exceptional collaboration between physicians is needed to better understand and treat autoimmune diseases that cause inflammation in various organ systems.

Staff member in the department of Immunology, member of the daily management team. Chairman of the Scientific Advisory board of the LUMC. Member of the Biomedical Sciences Program committee. Recipient of a prestigious PIONIER grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research in 1993. Director…

René E.M. Toes is professor of experimental rheumatology and has been the head of the Laboratory for Experimental Rheumatology at the LUMC since 2001. In 2018, he received the Carol Nachmann Prize for Rheumatology, and was awarded the Van Loghem Career Prize by the Dutch Society for Immunology in 2022.…

Tom W.J. Huizinga is professor of rheumatology, department head of rheumatology and vice-clinical educator rheumatology. He is chairman of the “Meteor” foundation, an international registry of disease activity and medication use of RA patients of more than 20 countries. Moreover he is chairman of the…

Since 1 January 2020 - with the transition to the Dutch Civil Code - the system of writing off leave has changed. When you take leave, the system automatically writes off the hours that fall due first.

Researchers from Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) have discovered how malaria parasites escape the immune system of mosquitoes. The so-called QC enzyme changes proteins on the outside of the malaria parasite such that the immune cells are unable to recognise the parasite. As a result, the parasite…

The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) has elected 16 new members, including two academics from Leiden: virologist Meta Roestenberg and Arabist Petra Sijpesteijn.

Cornelis H. (Ron) Hokke is professor of Glycobiology of Host-Pathogen Interaction and scientific staff member of the department of Parasitology at the Leiden University Medical Center

ICT, Organisation

A COVID-19 vaccine that specifically instructs the immune system to produce T-cells rather than antibodies is shown to provide good protection in a mouse model, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) researchers report in Nature Communications. According to them, the alternative vaccine may offer a…

ICT

Leiden professor of Cellular Immunology of Parasitic Infections Maria Yazdanbakhsh receives the prestigious NWO Spinoza Prize this year. This, in many ways, border-crossing scientist contributes with her research to more effective vaccines against parasitic infections and better medication for inflammatory…

PhD defence

PhD defence

Researchers at the Faculty of Science work at the frontiers of knowledge every day, tackling today’s major societal challenges. Their work is recognised through grants, prizes and other awards. We highlight some of these achievements below.

Ed J. Kuijper is currently the head of the Experimental Microbiology and the Reference Laboratory for Clostridium difficile at the Leiden University Medical Centre and the Centre for Infectious Disease Control of the National Institute of Public Health. Since 2015, his department also hosts the 'National…

Professor Arjan Lankester is professor in Pediatrics and Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation. He is also head of the JACIE-accrediated pediatric stem cell transplantation program, chair of the Working Party Inborn Errors of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) and chair of…

Jacques J.M. van Dongen is professor of Medical Immunology at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC). Based on his 35-year experience in Medical Immunology at Erasmus MC, he was recruited to LUMC in 2016 to build an LUMC-wide immune monitoring program. He coordinated 7 European research networks in…