Dr. A. (Angela) van Diepen, PhD

I studied Medical Biology (nowadays Biomedical Sciences) in Utrecht and graduated in 1999. Then I did my PhD within the department of Infectious Diseases at the LUMC where I studied the interaction between Salmonella typhimurium and its host. This was followed by a post-doc at Pediatric Infectious Diseases, UMC St Radboud in Nijmegen where I studied the interaction between respiratory viruses and the host using mass spectrometry-based techniques.
In 2010 I joined the group of Prof. dr. C.H. Hokke within the department of Parasitology of the LUMC to study various aspects of Schistosoma infections in relation to vaccine development and the improvement and development of diagnostic tests for schistosomiasis using glycan microarrays and various glycomics techniques. Since then, I have been involved in many pre-clinical studies regarding glycosylation and anti-glycan antibodies for different helminths, but with a clear focus on Schistosoma.

As glycosylation and (immune) responses triggered or mediated by glycans of pathogens or the host play critical roles during infections our group focusses on glycobiology of host-pathogen interactions. We study glycosylation and (immune) responses generated or mediated by glycans during infection. We use several techniques to study glycosylation and anti-glycan antibody responses, including mass spectrometry, glycan microarrays, HPLC, Western blotting, parasite cultures, and immunological assays.
I mainly focus on Schistosoma and host immune responses to glycans, but I have been involved in many pre-clinical studies regarding glycosylation and anti-glycan antibodies for different helminths and other pathogens as well.