The immune system protects us against infectious diseases. Vaccination allows us to train the immune system to do so rapidly and effectively. However, the world around us is changing all the time and so are the pathogens and the vaccines being used to defend ourselves against them. I want to understand how we can best protect ourselves against infectious diseases.

Marianne van Stipdonk (1969) studied Medical Biology at Utrecht University. She obtained her Ph.D. at the University of Amsterdam by researching a model for the auto-immune disease multiple sclerosis. After that she spent more than three years in the United States studying fundamental T-cell immunology. After returning to the Netherlands, Marianne continued this line of research as university lecturer at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and broadened her research to include experimental cancer vaccines.

From 2008 onwards, Marianne held various management posts in the field of vaccinology research, first at the former Netherlands Vaccine Institute and currently at RIVM.

Areas of expertise

• Immunology
• Vaccination
• Infectious diseases

Contact

Email: secretariaat.cib@rivm.nl