We offer a 4-year PhD position investigating how tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) shape local immune responses in different disease contexts and how they can be targeted therapeutically.
Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) are organized immune structures that can arise in tissues during chronic inflammation and disease. Although TLS are increasingly recognized as important sites of local immune activation, their formation, function and therapeutic potential remain poorly understood across different disease contexts. Understanding how TLS are structured and influence local immune responses may reveal new opportunities for therapeutic intervention.
You will study TLS across several disease settings. As part of the IMBRAIN project, you will collaborate with researchers at Erasmus MC investigating TLS in the meninges of murine models of activated PI3Kδ syndrome (APDS), an inborn error of immunity associated with immune and neurodevelopmental abnormalities. In parallel, you will lead the investigation of TLS and local immune responses in tonsillar samples from APDS patients, creating a bridge between experimental models and human immunology.
You will also investigate TLS in lung cancer and lung transplantation, comparing their organization and immune composition within the same tissue but across different disease environments. By integrating these disease contexts, you will identify common and disease-specific mechanisms that shape TLS and determine which features could serve as therapeutic targets. With these findings you will guide the development of targeted nanomedicine approaches, including modified lipid nanoparticles designed to modulate local immune responses.
To address these questions, you will use a broad range of state-of-the-art techniques, including flow cytometry, advanced imaging, molecular and transcriptomic analyses, laser-capture microdissection, and the generation and characterization of lipid nanoparticles. You will work in an interdisciplinary environment combining expertise in immunology, tissue biology, neuroscience and clinical research, with opportunities for collaboration across UMC Utrecht, Erasmus MC and the Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital.
