Dr. M. (Marieke) Griffioen

I am Marieke Griffioen born in 1970. I studied Biomedical Sciences at Leiden University, and did my PhD at the department of Clinical Oncology in the LUMC (1999), where I also worked as a postdoc. In 2004, I moved to the department of Hematology, where I developed the first steps for T-cell receptor gene therapy targeting minor histocompatibility antigen HA-1. Since 2008, I am a staff member at the department of Hematology. I discovered new minor histocompatibility antigens, and developed RNA-Seq for diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia. I also identified neoantigens, and discovered a T-cell receptor for mutated NPM1, which will be used in 2024 to treat patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

I am coordinator of the half minor “Cancer Immunology & Immunotherapy” and FOS course “Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation & Immunotherapy”, member of the Programme Committee Biomedical Sciences and Bachelor Internship Committee, and mentor in the courses Immunology and BAST in BW2.

My research is focused on minor histocompatibility antigens (MiHAs) and neoantigens, and T-cell receptors (TCRs) targeting these antigens on acute myeloid leukemia.

I developed GWAS and discovered new MiHAs, including 12 antigens that may be relevant for immunotherapy after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. I monitor patients for T-cell responses against MiHAs using peptide-MHC multimers and TCR-sequencing, and develop TCR gene therapy targeting MiHAs on tumor cells.

Besides MiHAs, I discover neoantigens and TCRs targeting neoantigens on acute myeloid leukemia. One of these TCRs targeting mutated NPM1 will be used in 2024 in the LUMC to treat patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

Finally, I developed RNA-seq to detect genetic aberrations in acute myeloid leukemia. The technology is currently used for diagnostics, and will be extended with gene expression signatures and other types of leukemia.