Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease, and vaccination may be an attractive method to induce long lasting protection against endogenous factors that contribute to the development of atherosclerosis. We have shown that for example vaccination against modified LDL or interleukin-12 limits…

For more information regarding ongoing research projects, please contact Prof. Johan Kuiper.

Can the conditioning paradigm be used for checkpoint inhibition cancer treatment?

Promotores: Wim Jiskoot; Ferry Ossendorp

In this book liposomes are explored as delivery system for allergen-specific immunotherapy. Both cationic and anionic formulations are prepared with Bet v 1, one of the allergens in birch pollen.

PhD defence

Promotores: W. Jiskoot, F. Ossendorp

Researchers from Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) have discovered how specialised immune cells can detect and remove cancers that are ‘invisible’ to the conventional defence mechanisms of the immune system. Their work has been published in Nature. The findings…

Strengthening a cancer patient's own immune system so that the body itself can better destroy cancer cells. This is at the heart of immunotherapy, the most promising progress in cancer treatment in recent years. In order to drive this development further, the Netherlands Cancer Institute-Antoni van…

Leiden researchers have developed a groundbreaking model to advance cancer immunotherapy. Using a 3D printer, they create mini-tumors within an environment that closely mimics human tissue. They have also developed a method to monitor real-time interactions of these mini-tumours with immune cells during…

In order to be able to develop effective medicine and treatments to prevent or cure autoimmune diseases or cancer we need to understand the mechanisms how they arise and what drives their course.Unravelling the fundamental molecular mechanisms influencing the onset and course of diseases such as allergies,…

This thesis focuses on using liposomes in two different treatment strategies; vaccination (or immunotherapy) and delivery of a small molecule, and in two different disease models; cancer and atherosclerosis.

Immunotherapies for cancer are an emerging class of therapeutic strategies which aim to treat cancer via augmentation of the immune system.

Promotores: J. Jonkers, K.E. de Visser

For effective cancer immunotherapy by vaccination, co-delivery of tumour antigens and adjuvants to dendritic cells and subsequent activation of antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) is crucial. In this study, a synthetic long peptide (SLP) harbouring the model CTL epitope SIINFEKL was encapsulated…

Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) particles have been extensively studied as biodegradable delivery system to improve the potency and safety of protein-based vaccines. In this study we analyzed how the size of PLGA particles, and hence their ability to be engulfed by dendritic cells (DC), affects…

The Therapeutic Immunomodulation Group is led by Prof. Johan Kuiper. In this group we aim to identify novel immunologic targets and apply immunotherapy to inhibit or even prevent the development of atherosclerosis.

PhD defence

The immune system plays a paradoxical role in the spread of breast cancer. Some immune cells contribute to metastasis, while other cells can be activated to strengthen the effect of chemotherapy. Kelly Kersten made this discovery in her PhD research. PhD defence 7 February.

With cancer, the immune system is a double-edged sword: it can attack tumour cells, but can also help them grow and spread. It is a question of harnessing it. This is what Professor Karin de Visser argued in her inaugural lecture on 15 November 2019.

This joint Master with the Autonomous University of Barcelona will the equip you with the necessary competences to play a key role in the emerging field of transfusion medicine. The programme includes both transfusion of blood components and hematopoietic transplants, cellular and tissue therapy, and…

Cancer is still one of the most common diseases in the world. What exactly is cancer and will we one day be able to cure everyone? In a video from the Universiteit van Nederland Noel de Miranda (Tumour Immunology, LUMC) tells you about his research on new treatments.

PhD defence

When internist Christian Blank made his very first discovery, his field of immunotherapy was the underdog of cancer research. Now, over 20 years later, Blank has been appointed Professor By Special Appointment of Internal Medicine for his clinical research into immunotherapy and will give his inaugural…

PhD defence

PhD defence

PhD defence

In this project, we aim to obtain a quantitative understanding of the role of the immune system in tumor regression, of the role of tumor cell heterogeneity in cancer growth and of tumor cell migration properties.

Providing each cancer patient with the right treatment remains a challenge. Oncode Accelerator aims to change this by innovating the way we develop cancer treatments, thus ensuring the patient is at the heart of the process. Leiden University, the LUMC and other partners will implement this new way…

At the division of Biopharmaceutics, we aim to develop and test new therapeutic approaches to limit or even prevent the development of atherosclerosis in order to reduce the number of acute cardiovascular syndromes such as myocardial infarction or stroke.

Bet v1, the major allergen in birch pollen, is one of the main causes of allergies such as asthma and rhino-conjunctivitis. Additionally it is the main cause of birch pollen allergy in humans.

One of the main challenges in the development of an effective anti-cancer vaccine is the generation of an adequate and directed cellular immune response.

The 100% online master programme Transfusion Medicine and Cellular and Tissue Therapies will equip you with the necessary competences to play a key role in the emerging field of transfusion medicine. Its current concept includes both transfusion of blood components and hematopoietic transplants, cellular…

The 100% online master programme Transfusion Medicine and Cellular and Tissue Therapies will equip you with the necessary competences to play a key role in the emerging field of transfusion medicine. Its current concept includes both transfusion of blood components and hematopoietic transplants, cellular…

PhD defence

PhD defence

PhD defence

PhD defence

We are very happy to welcome you to spend a semester or year studying or doing an internship with us at the Leiden University Medical Center. Here you will find information on your course timetables and registration.

This joint two-year parttime Master's programme will equip you with the necessary competences to play a key role in the emerging field of transfusion medicine. Its current concept includes both transfusion of blood components and hematopoietic transplants, cellular and tissue therapy and immunotherapy.…

The Center for Interdisciplinary Placebo Studies Leiden (IPS) aims to advance the understanding of placebo and nocebo effects, their underlying mechanisms, and their potential applications in clinical practice. IPS consists of a group of interdisciplinary researchers working at Leiden University with…

Explore the unknown in order to be able to innovate in the distant future.

Lotje Zuur sometimes has to perform disfiguring operations. As a head and neck surgeon, she removes parts of the mouth, throat or face of people with cancer. Now a promising treatment may make such operations unnecessary. What would this mean for patients? This is what her inaugural speech on 19 September…

Courses cover a broad range of relevant subjects and provide in-depth theoretical knowledge as well as training in practical skills and advanced research tools.

When the immune system attacks cancer, the tumour modifies itself to escape the immune reaction. Researchers at LUMC published on this subject in Nature on 28 June.

On 10 September 2021, Professor Thorbald van Hall from the Department of Medical Oncology in the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) delivered his inaugural lecture ‘Tumour-immune interactions: control, escape and counterattack’. Van Hall used the opportunity to describe how - in a similar way to…

Ton Schumacher, professor by special appointment in Immunotechnology at the LUMC and group leader of Molecular Oncology and Immunology at the Netherlands Cancer Institute, has been awarded the NWO Stevin Prize. The Stevin Prize and the Spinoza Prize are the top scientific prizes in the Netherlands and…

The ERC has awarded a Starting Grant to five promising researchers from Leiden. Two are from the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, one is from the Faculty of Humanities/Governance and Global Affairs, one from the LUMC and one from the Faculty of Science.

Sjaak Neefjes, professor of Chemical Immunology at the LUMC, has been awarded a Spinoza prize of 2.5 million euros. His colleague Ton Schumacher, professor of Immunotechnology affiliated with Leiden University, the LUMC and the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek cancer centre, has been awarded the Stevin prize,…

Physics and Engineering Approaches to Biomedicine and Pharmacology