Marfa Blanter

Research

The complement system is a family of proteins which participate in the regulation of the immune response. One of the ways in which complement activates the immune system is opsonization, i.e. coating the surface of a foreign or malignant cell. Opsonization provides a signal to leukocytes to take up and degrade the opsonized cell, a process called phagocytosis. In my research, I study phagocytosis in the context of immunotherapy against lymphoma. Using engineered antibodies directed against complement components, I investigate how the complement system can be exploited to achieve optimal phagocytosis and killing of cancer cells. With this research, I aim to provide a starting point for the development of novel immunotherapies against lymphoma. 

Curriculum Vitae

I performed my Bachelor and Master studies Biomedical Sciences at the LUMC. During my Master thesis, I performed research at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, where I studied the effect of an antiviral drug on antigen presentation in the context of type I diabetes. Upon obtaining my Master’s degree in 2018, I worked as a research assistant at Karolinska for 3 months. In 2019, I started a PhD at the Laboratory of Molecular Immunology at the KU Leuven in Belgium, where I investigated the role of the innate immune system in a rare chronic lung disease called primary ciliary dyskinesia. I obtained my PhD degree in May 2024 and joined Prof. Leendert Trouw’s group as postdoctoral researcher shortly thereafter.