research background

My research journey began with an unforgettable experience during the introduction week of my master’s programme where I suffered a severe allergic anaphylactic reaction to a pecan nut that got me hospitalised. This incident sparked a deep interest in studying the immunology of food allergies. Since then, I have had the opportunity to work on two related research projects. First, I investigated the uptake of peanut allergens in dendritic cells at Utrecht University. Then, I conducted high-dimensional immune cell profiling of allergic patients using mass cytometry at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, a project that set the groundwork for my current research.

Current research activities

To understand the heterogeneity of T helper 2 responses, I expanded my research focus from allergies to parasitic helminths, in particular hookworm. I am currently pursuing a PhD at Leiden University Medical Center under the supervision of Professor Maria Yazdanbakhsh. During my PhD I have had the privilege to assess immunological profiles from hookworm-naïve Europeans in controlled human infection studies and to compare these to individuals from helminth-endemic areas in Indonesia. This work involved extensive training in a variety of immunological tools and assays. Specifically, mass cytometry, conventional and spectral flow cytometry, CITE-seq, TCR-seq, ELISA, CBA, Luminex, O–link, PCR, functional in vitro assays. I have also had in depth training in computational data analysis.   

Future research activities

I am excited to apply this skill set to investigate the effects of schistosome infection on genital mucosal immune cells in the context of female genital schistosomiasis. Together with Professor Jennifer Downs (Weill Cornell Medicine) and Dr Jane Maganga (Mwanza Clinical Trials Unit), we aim to understand why women with female genital schistosomiasis are more susceptible to other genital tract infections, such as HIV, and are more likely to experience poor pregnancy outcomes. 

With regards to vaccines, many have been found to be less effective in low-income regions compared to high-income regions. Exposure to helminths has been suggested as one underlying factor.  A detailed understanding of the immunomodulatory capacity of helminths will help to enhance our comprehension of the immune system as a whole and add to our understanding of varying vaccine responses