Neurodegenerative diseases pose a large medical and societal challenge. The etiology of these diseases is still poorly understood, which makes drug discovery for these diseases difficult.

Together with patient representatives, clinician-researchers from Radboucumc (Internal Medicine) Amsterdam UMC and researchers from Leiden University (Andrea Evers and Henriët van Middendorp) have received the Medical Inspirator Prize 2019 of The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development…

Assistant Professor Karlsson Linnér, who works at the Department of Economics, is one of the recipients of a Veni grant. His research on the accuracy of preventive genetic testing is a fine example of the intersection of economic science and law.

How can novel bioimaging technologies and vertebrate model species be used to gain a better understanding of early cellular behaviours with the ultimate goal to increase our understanding of human development and disease processes?

Can zebrafish provide a fast, sensitive in vivo vertebrate model for identifying novel mechanisms of Ewing sarcoma progression and for development of new anticancer compounds in a time- and cost-effective manner?

Since 2008 every half a year an SBB student starts with an internship for Merck Serono Ventures in Geneva. Head of the company Roel Bulthuis selects and works with the SBB interns and shares his experiences as an employer. He is very pleased.

A multi-disciplinary approach to past lifestyles and cultural practices

Who benefits from CXCR/CXCL chemokine signaling during infection: host or pathogen?

What is the role of cell wall-deficiency in the persistence of tuberculosis?

Our ability to learn and control movements is essential for engaging in goal-directed behaviour. From buttoning your shirt and driving a car, to cooking dinner and brushing your teeth -- our actions in daily life rely on this ability.

Atherosclerosis is the most prominent underlying pathology of cardiovascular disease and an important cause of major adverse cardiovascular events.

Promotor: Prof.dr. A. P. IJzerman, Co-Promotor: Dr. L.H. Heitman

How do mycobacteria subvert the defenses of host immune cells?

Lysosomal acid glucosylceramidase (GBA1) is a lysosomal enzyme that degrades glucolipids with its main substrate being glucosylceramide (GlcCer). Defects in the GBA1 gene lead to glycosphingolipidosis Gaucher disease (GD), in which the hydrolysis of GlcCer is impaired and therefore, it accumulates in…

What is the function of the insect serosa?

Can birds - like people- ‘see’ voices and learn how to sing by listening and watching?

1. What is the exact role of PIN proteins in PAT? 2. How is PIN polarity established, and how is it modulated by AGC kinase-mediated phosphorylation? 3. What is the role of the AGC kinase, as modulators of PAT, in translating environmental signals, such as gravity, light or mechanical stress, to plant…

Imagine that you have a chronic skin condition, characterized by red patches of itchy, scaly skin. You regularly notice people staring at your skin and sense their reluctance to shake your hand. Or imagine that you have Parkinson's Disease, causing your hands to tremble and making it difficult for you…

Can drug screening for tuberculosis treatment be made more efficient?

Promotor: S.M. Verduyn Lunel

Cardiovascular diseases are the primary cause of death in the world with atherosclerosis as primary underlying cause.

Early treatment benefits patients who have not fully developed rheumatoid arthritis but are in the preliminary stages of the disease. This is what researchers from the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) have reported in The Lancet. Patients in the pre-arthritis stage who were temporarily prescribed…

Does the mineralocorticoid receptor play a role in the effects of cortisol and synthetic glucocorticoids on the immune response?

We aim to develop a drug-delivery method based on the production of biomolecules directly at the target site.

Can small molecule drugs restore the immune system’s ability to fight tuberculosis by boosting autophagy?

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded Veni funding to seventeen researchers who recently obtained their PhD. This award offers promising young scientists the opportunity to develop their own ideas over a period of three years.

Heart patients who maintain a healthy lifestyle can start earning discounts at shops or for trips out. The Tergooi Hospital is the first in the Netherlands to introduce this unique method that was co-developed by the research group headed by Professor of Health Psychology Andrea Evers and the Leiden…

The lipids in the uppermost layer of the skin, the stratum corneum (SC), play an important role in the skin barrier function. The three main SC lipid classes are ceramides (CER), cholesterol and free fatty acids.

We examine how soil inoculation influences aboveground organisms (i) directly, and indirectly via (ii) its effects on plant chemistry or volatile emission, or via (iii) mediating the effects of belowground pathogens on aboveground organisms via the shared plant.

Which immune mechanisms are involved in host defense against Staphylococcal infection?

Can we exploit the cell death machinery of the host to develop new host-directed anti-TB treatments?

Utilization of plant-originated products as new antibiotics

How is Pol θ responsible for T-DNA integration, and how do other DNA double-strand break repair pathways interact with Pol θ? How may we manipulate T-DNA integration to stimulate error-free integration at a predetermined genomic site?

In order to gain insight into the structure and function of the molecular complexes involved in chemotaxis, we use electron cryotomography (ECT). This technique allows us to directly study microbes in their native state at resolutions capable of visualizing individual proteins.

Researchers at the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) have managed to culture human heart muscle cells on a massive scale. This is an exceptional achievement because it is very difficult to replicate heart muscle cells outside the body. Using a special technique, the researchers have now created…

What are the biological and biophysical mechanisms that control chemokine gradient sensing and migration of immune, endothelial, and tumour cells in tumour development?

With this thesis the PhD-candidate aims to enrich the body of evidence concerning the relation between stress and health, and the mediating role of (un)conscious perseverative cognitions, which is captured in the extended perseverative cognition hypothesis.

Professors Simcha Jong (Leiden University) and Rifat Atun (Harvard University) convened an exploratory seminar to discuss challenges for health systems in realising the potential of precision medicine at Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies in Cambridge, MA on 17 April 2017.

How do plant defense genes get activated?

Can drugs that target host signaling pathways be used to eradicate antibiotic-resistant bacteria?

What are the host immune defence mechanisms that control intracellular infections and how are these subverted by pathogens?

Research groups in the Biological & Soft Matter Programme unravel mechanisms in biological processes and develop novel bio-inspired soft materials.