KWF funding for team of Leendert Trouw for project 'Hit and Run'

To achieve optimal effectivity of stem cell therapy and immune cell therapy against cancer, the recipients are prepared by depleting all their own immune cells. In this setting the new immune cells have an optimal chance to have their desired therapeutic effect. The currently employed methods to deplete the recipients immune cells is based on chemotherapy and/or antibody mediated depletion. While both methods work, they are toxic and the therapeutic antibodies remain present in the body for too long. The KWF-funded project Hit and Run allows a post-doc to work in the team of Prof. Trouw at the department of Immunology at the LUMC to develop new methods to make antibody based cellular depletion faster and more efficient. This work is performed in close collaboration with Prof. Lankester  of the department of pediatric stem cell transplantation and with Prof. Parren, of the department of Immunology, who is an expert in the development of therapeutic antibodies. This three year post-doc project entails antibody engineering, functional testing in complement assays and cellular assays as well as translational models.