Immunity, infection and tolerance graduate program LUMC

Infectious and immune-mediated diseases are common reasons for seeking medical care. The conditions are associated with considerable morbidity and mortality, and account for substantial expenditure. Infectious and immune-mediated diseases represent both ends of a spectrum of disorders that encompasses on one hand congenital or acquired immunodeficiency leading to exquisite susceptibility to infectious diseases that often run a severe course, and on the other hand, unwanted or exaggerated, sometimes life-threatening, immune reactions that cause e.g. allergies or autoimmune diseases. Some persistent infectious diseases like tuberculosis and leprosy combine characteristics of both infection and autoimmunity. Likewise, infections can be associated with - at first sight - unrelated immune-mediated disease, or may increase the severity of immune-mediated diseases. A major challenge for physicians across many disciplines who treat patients with various underlying conditions is to optimize the balance between boosting favourable immune responses against tumours and infections and the suppression of unwanted immune response such as, for instance, can be present in auto-immune disease or during rejection episodes of transplanted organs and cells. In the translational setting of the LUMC, clinicians and basic scientists alike study on one hand the pathophysiology of unwanted or exaggerated immunological responses that lead to tissue damage in infection, chronic inflammation or transplantation and, on the other hand, how immunological tolerance is maintained. The main goal of the translational and multi-disciplinary programme Immunity, infection and tolerance is to improve the understanding of the biological mechanisms involved in immunity and tolerance. Our ambition is to bundle the knowledge of interventions in the immune system to maximize development and experience. This aggregation of clinicians and scientists will lead to more synergy thereby fuelling mechanistic understanding of tolerance and immunity, better development towards personalized medicine, and better care for patients. To this end, an educational programme beginning within the master of science phase and continuing until the end of the PhD phase has recently been organised. The programme aims to offer the academic bases for understanding the interplay between the innate and adaptive immunity in 1) autoimmunity and chronic inflammation , 2) protection against infection and 3) tolerance induction and maintenance. The ultimate aim is to generate innovative strategies for immunotherapeutic interventions and vaccination to counteract unwanted immune reactions or infections. Several departments and research groups participate in this education. The native and adaptive immune system, the role and function of the HLA-system, the regulation of inflammation and cytokine secretion and the genetic regulation of immune responses are investigated in the context of several immune-driven diseases. In infectious diseases, research focuses on emerging, re-emerging and persistent pathogens including nidoviruses, CMV, C. difficile, mycobacteria, malaria and helminths. Studies aim to understand how pathogens interact with their hosts and how the host fights off infection. Research ranges from the molecular biology of pathogenesis, through host cell interactions, to whole animal models and clinical trials, as well as investigations into infection dynamics in the population. Moreover, immunological (disease) areas of interest include transplantation, the interplay between immune system and tissue inflammation / regeneration (e.g. adipose tissue, endothelium), systemic auto-immune disorders like rheumatic diseases, endocrine disorders like diabetes, mucosa-associated inflammatory conditions such as COPD, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease and celiac disease, and neuro(muscular) autoimmunity. Overall, the Immunity, infection and tolerance graduate programme (IIT graduate programme) in the LUMC is an ideal place for young researchers driven by their interest for infectious- and immune-related diseases, as basic research is complemented by epidemiological and field-studies of infectious disease transmission and control, vaccinations, and treatment of immune-mediated disease. Investigations exploring the genetic, genomic, and molecular aspects of infectious and immunologic processes, as well as basic and translational studies that provide insights into disease pathophysiology, will improve efficacy of treatments while minimizing adverse effects - its all about keeping a balance.