Bogdan Sisca Jippa

Curriculum Vitae 
 

In 2016, I started my Bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom. After finishing my undergraduate studies in 2019, I moved to the Netherlands to pursue a Master's degree in Infection and Immunity at Utrecht University.

During my first Master's internship, I investigated the role of gut microbiota in Inflammatory Bowel Disease, at the department of Medical Microbiology of UMC Utrecht. My second internship was a collaborative project between the Institut de Psychiatrie et Neurosciences de Paris and Utrecht University, focused on developing microscopy-based tools to study the role of exosomes in the immune evasion mechanisms of glioblastoma.

Following the completion of my Master's studies, I joined Genmab in Utrecht as a Research Associate in 2021. Over the following four and a half years, I worked on developing and implementing new technologies for antibody discovery and lead optimization, such as yeast and ribosome display.

Motivated by a continued interest in immunology and translational research, I joined the Transplant Immunology group of Prof. S. Heidt and Dr. D. Roelen as a PhD candidate in September 2026. 

Research

My research will focus on improving the immunological assessment of patients awaiting organ transplantation. The current project aims to increase our understanding of which elements of mismatched HLA molecules are recognized as foreign and subsequently induce the formation of HLA-specific antibodies. By investigating these processes at both the B-cell and T-cell level, and by improving the characterization of pre-existing HLA antibodies, we hope to refine immunological risk assessment and contribute to safer and more efficient donor-recipient matching strategies.