Joery Matthys, universitair docent aan het Institute of Security and Global Affairs, bracht begin deze maand een ex ante evaluatie van het Contraterrorismebeleid uit.

The research described in this thesis focused on the use of bioorthogonal antigens to investigate immunological processes in antigen presenting cells. Bioorthogonal antigens are antigenic proteins produced through recombinant expression in a methionine auxotrophic E. coli strain.

Promotor: Prof.dr. M. de Jong, Co-Promotor: A.J. Heijboer

This thesis describes the development of a variety of mannosylated conjugates. Antigen presenting cells bear mannoside recognizing receptors that actively transport antigen into the cell. This thesis exploits this feature for the development of improved vaccines.

The first steps are made in personalised cancer vaccination strategies, which aim to induce a more specific immune response with fewer side effects. The activation of cytotoxic T cells is crucial for an effective immune response.

Nanoparticles can be used as delivery systems for both small molecules and macromolecules such as proteins, peptides or oligonucleotides. This thesis focuses on the use of liposomes, nanometric vesicles formed by a lipid bilayer enclosing an aqueous core. Liposomes are highly versatile delivery syst…

The intradermal administration route is attractive for vaccine delivery, because of the highly populated antigen-presenting cells in the skin. However, the skin’s main physical barrier, the stratum corneum, prevents vaccines from entering the skin.

Atherosclerosis is the main underlying pathology of cardiovascular disease. Atherosclerosis is caused by an immune response which is directed against (modified) lipoproteins which accumulate in the vessel wall.

In order to be able to develop effective medicine and treatments to prevent or cure autoimmune diseases or cancer we need to understand the mechanisms how they arise and what drives their course.Unravelling the fundamental molecular mechanisms influencing the onset and course of diseases such as allergies,…

Antibiotic resistance, caused by widespread use of antibiotics, leads to bacterial infections that are difficult, if not impossible, to treat and is a major worldwide health concern.

Het ontwikkelen en demonstreren van innovatieve praktijken om met een lage milieu-impact farmaceutica te produceren.

The upscaling of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data is recognized as one of the main challenges in the ex-ante LCA of emerging technologies. This challenge arises since industrial-scale system specifications for these technologies are unknown and industrial data is lacking.

Promotor: Prof.dr. M. de Jong

Promotores: W. Jiskoot, F. Ossendorp

In summary, the collective results described in this thesis show that nanoparticulate vaccines can be delivered intradermally by coated and hollow microneedles and evoke antigen-specific immune responses.

Promotores: T.H.W. Bäck, Y. Tan, Co-promotor: M.T.M. Emmerich

A framework for prospective/ex-ante life cycle assessment (LCA) and ecological risk assessment (ERA) of emerging technologies is developed and applied to a case study of III-V/silicon photovoltaic panels.

This thesis describes the design and synthesis of fragments of various cell wall carbohydrates of the Streptococcus species, including the branched Group B-specific antigen (GBC) of Group B Streptococcus, glycerol phosphate (GroP) modified group A carbohydrate (GAC), and the O-acetylated type 1 capsular…

Traditionally, vaccines are administered intramuscularly using conventional hypodermic needles, which cause pain and distress. Microneedles are very short needles (smaller than 1 mm) that are practically invisible to the naked eye.

This thesis has described novel synthetic methods to produce a variety of (glyco)peptides and their application in the study of various immunological processes.

Natuurkundigen hebben een astrofysisch neutrinosignaal van de IceCube detector bestudeerd vanuit een andere hoek. Het centrum van de Melkweg leek vanzelfsprekende de bron te zijn, maar deze hypothese is nu eerder verworpen dan bevestigd. Publicatie in Physical Letters B.

Despite the fact that gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are one of the most studied nanoparticles, there is still a necessity for new approaches allowing for effective protective coating to enable wider use of GNPs in biomedical applications.

Promotor: H.J. van den Herik, B.R. Katzy, Co-promotor: K. Sailer

This thesis focuses on using liposomes in two different treatment strategies; vaccination (or immunotherapy) and delivery of a small molecule, and in two different disease models; cancer and atherosclerosis.

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have enabled the success of mRNA vaccines but remain limited in broader therapeutic use by challenges in delivery efficiency, targeting, and mechanistic understanding.

The development of new environmentally sound technologies is seen as a key route towards achieving sustainability.

Atherosclerosis is the most prominent underlying pathology of cardiovascular disease and an important cause of major adverse cardiovascular events.

The demand for neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets is rapidly growing, while the neodymium supply chain is under pressure. Recycling can alleviate these issues. This thesis investigates the potential for deploying novel magnet recycling technologies and their environmental consequences.

Tuberculosis is a major global health problem caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, claiming more than a million lives annually.

Dissolving microneedles are a subgroup of microneedle types that completely dissolve within the skin. During this dissolving process the vaccine, stored in the needle matrix, is released into the skin.

Carbohydrates are present on the surface of bacteria making them suitable antigen candidates for vaccine development. This thesis deals with the synthesis of two carbohydrate-based components; the capsular polisaccharide of S. aureus type 5 and teichoic acids from staphilococci and enterococci speci…

Promotor: W. Jiskoot, Co-promotor: A. Kros

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Cardiovascular syndromes are the major cause of death in Western societies.

Op 5 juni verdedigde Maarten Aalbers het proefschrift 'De werking van algemene belangenafwegingen in het Europese staatssteunrecht: tussen verbod en verenigbaarheid?'. Het promotieonderzoek is begeleid door Pieter van Cleynenbreugel en Stefaan van den Bogaert.

Acute cardiovascular syndromes, including myocardial infarction or stroke, are the principal cause of death in the Western society. The main underlying pathology of cardiovascular diseases is atherosclerosis, which is caused by the accumulation of lipids and inflammatory cells in the vessel wall, in…

Op 13 oktober 2021 verdedigde Ross Spence het proefschrift 'Collateral Transactions and Shadow Banking'. Het promotieonderzoek is begeleid door promotoren prof.mr. M. Haentjens en prof.dr. A.M. Pacces (UvA).

This thesis describes the use of bioorthogonal proteins in immunological settings. It provides an introduction towards the field of protein modification, which was used throughout the thesis for the expression of proteins containing unnatural amino acids.

Schistosomiasis is an acute and chronic disease caused by blood dwelling parasitic trematodes of the genus Schistosoma, and it is classified as the second most socioeconomically devastating parasitic disease, second only to malaria.

Promotor: G.F.A. Kersten, W. Jiskoot, Co-promotor: B. Metz

One of the main challenges in the development of an effective anti-cancer vaccine is the generation of an adequate and directed cellular immune response.

This thesis investigates innovative and classical strategies in glycoconjugate vaccine development to address the growing threat of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections.

Op 5 juni 2024 verdedigde Maarten Aalbers het proefschrift 'De werking van algemene belangenafwegingen in het Europese staatssteunrecht: tussen verbod en verenigbaarheid?' Het promotieonderzoek is begeleid door Stefaan van den Bogaert en Pieter van Cleynenbreugel.

Promotores: H.S. Overkleeft; G.A. van der Marel Co-Promotor: B.I. Florea

Promotores: Prof.dr. J. A. Bouwstra, Prof.dr. W. Jiskoot

Drug development is hampered by the limited predictive value of conventional 2D culture systems, which fail to recapitulate the complexity of the disease microenvironment and contribute to high clinical attrition rates.