Our group investigates cellular and humoral immunity to viral infections and vaccination, with special emphasis on T cell features, immunosenescence and biomarkers that stratify responders versus non-responders. We combine clinical vaccine trials, high-dimensional immune phenotyping and mechanistic in-vitro studies to uncover the determinants of robust vaccine-induced protection.
A major focus is healthy ageing and vaccination: as clinical coordinator of the European VITAL consortium, we contributed to multicentre work that maps vaccine-preventable disease burden and searches for predictive immunotypes in older adults, with the aim to enable targeted vaccination strategies and public-health tools.
Poor vaccine responses in older and clinical risk groups drive excess morbidity, healthcare costs and reduced quality of life. By identifying predictive immune biomarkers and translating them into practical tools, we aim to improve vaccine schedules and uptake for those who need it most.
Develop biomarker panels and decision-support tools to identify individuals at high risk of suboptimal vaccine responses, enabling targeted boosting or alternative prophylaxis.
Workflows include informing national vaccination policy discussions, contributing evidence to cost-effectiveness modelling of vaccination strategies for older adults, and providing actionable recommendations to clinical teams caring for immunocompromised patients.
We collaborate with public-health agencies, clinical centers and EU consortia (VITAL/IMI) to produce educational toolboxes and materials aimed at clinicians, policymakers and older adults to improve vaccine acceptance and implementation.
University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG)
Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention
P.O. Box 30.001
9700 RB Groningen
The Netherlands
University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG)
Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention
Hanzeplein 1
9713 GZ Groningen
The Netherlands
