Lisanne Overduin

RESEARCH

In 2020 I started my PhD on the dissection of the antigen-specific immune response to rabies vaccination. With novel flow cytometry techniques, we aim to obtain in-depth insight in the cellular antigen-specific response, which is a relatively unexplored topic. Using a rabies-specific flow-cytometric assay, we will be able to describe the primary and secondary antigen-specific cellular immune response kinetics with great detail. Furthermore, the assay can be used to optimize rabies vaccination strategies and also has an application in the care for immunocompromised patients: rabies vaccination is safe, and such an antigen-specific assay is a great tool for monitoring the immune system of for example stem cell transplantation patients, or even for diagnosing immune disorders.

CURRICULUM VITAE

I have obtained a bachelor’s degree (2016-2019) in Medicine at Leiden University, The Netherlands. In 2017, I was selected for the MD-PhD Honours programme for excellent bachelor students with a passion for medical research. Ever since, I have been working on the rabies vaccination immunology project under supervision of Prof. dr. Jacques J.M. van Dongen and dr. Magda Berkowska (Immune Monitoring group) and Prof. dr. Leo Visser (Department of Infectious Diseases). In 2020 I obtained the LUMC MD-PhD-scholarship which allows me to focus on this project as a full-time PhD student.