Mo Staal

Research

Dendritic cells, CD4+ T cells, and CD8+ T cells play a pivotal role in the induction and execution of immune responses against cancer. Recent studies have described that instructing tumour cells to die through specific death programs, for example necroptosis or pyroptosis, can dictate the potency of an antitumor immune response. My research aims to unravel how different types of tumour cell death impact the interplay between dendritic cells, CD4+ T cells, and CD8+ T cells and thereby shape the antitumor immune response.      

Curriculum vitae

I obtained my BSc in Biomedical Sciences (2017) and MSc in Infection & Immunity (2020) at Utrecht University. During the Master, I conducted an internship at the University Medical Center Utrecht in the group of Dr. José Borghans and Dr. Kiki Tesselaar, unravelling the immunological effects of a CCR5 antagonist Maraviroc. Additionally, I performed an internship at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (Greifswald) in Germany in the group of PD. Dr Stefan Finke investigating intraneuronal and transneuronal transport of rabies virus. I also worked as an intern in the group of Prof. Rob Hoeben at the Leiden University Medical Center, focussing on immune cell-mediated delivery of oncolytic reovirus to tumour cells. I joined the lab of Prof. Jannie Borst as a PhD student in April 2020.