Dr. A.H.E. (Anna) Roukens, MD, PhD

At the LUMC, I combine clinical work with research, which allows me to identify the unmet needs of patients and translate these to the laboratory and back. I am the head of HIV-care at the LUMC and collaborate with Infectious Diseases specialists outside the LUMC to improve HIV-care in the Netherlands. Training (bio)medical students, internal medicine residents, fellows Infectious Diseases, nurse practitioners and graduate students is a daily activity which gives me enormous work pleasure.
In my scientific career, I have always focused on improving vaccine equity and vaccine responses, which is why I was invited as a member of the scientific advisory group on vaccines of the EMA. Because of my experience with clinical trials, I am a member of the Medical Ethical Committee of the LUMC, and I am the Chief Editor of the Dutch journal of Infectious Diseases. A platform of high-quality publications in the fields of clinical Infectious Diseases, Microbiology and Public Health, and giving an opportunity for young clinicians and researchers to publish scientific papers.

Within the Leiden University Center for Infectious Diseases, I lead research focused on the optimisation of vaccine delivery. Under my guidance, fractional dosing regimens for COVID-19 vaccines have been tested with the potential to spare millions of doses of vaccines for pandemic preparedness and global access. Following research of my group, the WHO now recommends implementation of a fractional dosing strategy in yellow fever outbreaks. In addition, my group investigates the use of novel vaccine delivery strategies, devices and dosing schedules for individuals with impaired immunity such as elderly and immunocompromised patients (e.g., HIV infection or organ transplants), and vaccine response development in the lymph node. Together with LU-CID best immunologist, she strives to unravel vaccine-induced immunity to more rationally design alternative vaccine delivery strategies to serve all of the world’s populations.
To conduct this research, I have received funding from ZonMw (clinical fellow), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Dioraphte, SAL, LUF Bontius and ISTM.