Senior postdoctoral researcher
Dr. W.A.A. (Wouter) de Steenhuijsen Piters
Area(s) of expertise:
Microbiome, 16S-rRNA-sequencing, vaccine response, mass cytometry, data-analysis
Microbiome, 16S-rRNA-sequencing, vaccine response, mass cytometry, data-analysis
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Introduction
Vaccines save millions of lives yearly. Despite that, vaccine responses vary greatly between populations. Reduced vaccine responses or ‘vaccine hyporesponsiveness’ is especially common in (rural) populations living in low- and middle-income countries. In our group, headed by prof. dr. Maria Yazdanbakhsh, we aim to understand the immunological basis of this problem. We do so using single-cell technologies, such as mass cytometry and single-cell sequencing.
As a medical doctor and data scientist, I am particularly interested in predicting and possibly preventing vaccine hyporesponsiveness. Therefore, I am currently setting up a research line to explore the role of microbial communities (‘microbiome’) in modulating vaccine responses. In addition, together with a team of (clinical) researchers, I am setting up a proof-of-concept trial where we aim to improve the vaccine response using immunotherapy.
I invest part of my time in education and developing (online) workshops on microbiome data analyses and supervision of masters and PhD students.
As a medical doctor and data scientist, I am particularly interested in predicting and possibly preventing vaccine hyporesponsiveness. Therefore, I am currently setting up a research line to explore the role of microbial communities (‘microbiome’) in modulating vaccine responses. In addition, together with a team of (clinical) researchers, I am setting up a proof-of-concept trial where we aim to improve the vaccine response using immunotherapy.
I invest part of my time in education and developing (online) workshops on microbiome data analyses and supervision of masters and PhD students.
Scientific research
I studied medicine and gained clinical experience working as a resident in paediatrics and in pulmonology. I received my PhD cum laude from the University of Utrecht (main supervisor: prof. dr. Debby Bogaert) where I worked on the characterization of the bacterial communities (‘microbiota’) residing in the respiratory tract and how these microbiota were related to respiratory infections. Through this work, I discovered my enthusiasm for data science. I expanded my data science repertoire during a postdoctoral position where I investigated the associations between early-life viral infections and the development of mucosal immunity and respiratory microbiota. In addition, I assessed mother-to-infant transmission of microbes. Ongoing research at the LUMC focusses on understanding vaccine hyporesponiveness across populations. Specifically, I apply and benchmark data-integration methods to draw powerful conclusions from multiple mass cytomet071-5261404ry datasets at once.
