Immunodeficiencies and disorders of immune dysregulation

Aim & Approach

We study diseases caused by dysregulation of the immune system, including immune deficiencies, immune-mediated disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease (CVD), as well as allergies and asthma. Our aim is to improve understanding of molecular and immunological mechanisms leading to these diseases and to develop novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.We use extensive immune cell phenotyping, genomic, transcriptomic, metabolomic and glycomic approaches to analyse various disorders of immune dysregulation, discover novel immunological biomarkers and develop new personalised therapies.

Principal Investigators

Prof. dr. Sergey Nejentsev focuses on primary immunodeficiencies and mechanisms of susceptibility to infection and characterises novel biomarkers in SLE patients.

Prof. dr. Reina Mebius focusses on the role of lymph node stromal cells in controlling adaptive immune responses during homeostasis and chronic inflammatory responses such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Dr. Jan Van den Bossche investigates how dysregulated metabolism drives aberrant macrophage activation and inflammation, with the goal to identify new treatment options for chronic inflammatory diseases such as atherosclerosis.

Prof. dr. Yvette van Kooyk develops novel therapeutic approaches aiming to induce tolerance in patients with allergy and asthma

Dr. Juan J. Garcia Vallejo is interested in how the immune system is altered in situations so different as exposure to microplastics or infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Dr. Sandra J. van Vliet aims to develop small molecules targeting C-type lectins to manipulate and employ their signaling and immunomodulatory capacities to correct immune disorders.