Dr. Michael Eikmans

Brief summary of research:

I studied biology and received my PhD degree in 2002 at the department of Pathology (Prof. JA Bruijn) of the LUMC on the topic of biomarkers in native kidney diseases and in kidney transplantation. As a postdoctoral investigator I have a background in research on kidney transplantation, for which I received several grants from the Dutch Kidney Foundation and the Roche Organ Transplantation Research Foundation (ROTRF), and the Distinguished Research Award from the Dutch Transplant Society. I was appointed as research fellow at the transplantation group (Prof. RB Colvin) in the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston MA.

Since 2006, I have been working at the department of Immunology (Prof. FHJ Claas) to perform research on immunological and molecular aspects of transplantation. Currently, my research focuses on immune mechanisms in mother and child during and after pregnancy. The research lines include study of immune regulation in healthy and complicated, spontaneously conceived pregnancies, and also in oocyte donation pregnancies. Investigations on the frequency, nature, and consequences of pregnancy-induced maternal and fetal microchimerism are performed by the research group as well.

I’m a member of  the education committee of the European Federation for Immunogenetics (EFI) and a member of the core group of the Reproductive Immunology Network Netherlands (RiNet). Furthermore, I’m actively involved in teaching Bachelor and Master students (Medical, Biomedical) in the fields of immunology, pregnancy, transplantation, and molecular biology.

Curriculum Vitae:

I studied Biology at Leiden University, specialising in Medical Biology and graduated in 1996. I did my PhD training with at the Department of Pathology at the Leiden University Medical Center and defended my thesis on molecular analysis of kidney transplant rejection in 2002.

Current and previous Positions:

2011-present    Assistant Professor, Dept. of Immunology, LUMC, the Netherlands

2006-2010        Postdoctoral Researcher, Dept. of IHB, LUMC, the Netherlands

2003-2006        Postdoctoral Researcher, Dept. of Pathology, LUMC, the Netherlands

2002-2003        Research Fellow, Massachusetts General Hospital, Dept of Pathology, Boston MA

2001-2003        Junior Postdoc, Dept of Pathology, LUMC, the Netherlands

1997-2001        PhD Student, Dept of Pathology, LUMC, the Netherlands