Researcher
dr. Wesley Huisman
Research
My primary research focus is studying the immune system its interplay between the upper respiratory tract and periphery in the context of vaccines, virus infections and aging. One of our recent notable contributions was the identification of antigen-specific SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells in the nasal mucosa, the first time this was ever done in humans, resulting in a highly cited Nature Immunology paper. In other projects I employ a range of flow-based omics assays, including measuring the function of the innate immune system and setting up an assay to look at >300 phenotypical markers across multiple immune cell populations, to dissect the nuances of vaccine-induced immune responses and differences of people from different geographical areas or age.
Curriculum Vitae
I obtained my PhD at Sanquin Blood Bank, The Netherlands, in collaboration with Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC). My doctoral research investigated both the therapeutic potential and the associated risks of adoptive transfer of virus-specific T cells in immunocompromised individuals. We developed a strategy to track adoptively transferred virus-specific T cells using the T-cell receptor (TCR) as a molecular barcode. In addition, we assessed the breadth and scope of virus-specific TCR repertoires among HLA-matched individuals and examined the requirements for TCR specificity through targeted manipulation of the CDR3 region.
Publications
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Prolonged activation of nasal immune cell populations and development of tissue-resident SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8 T cell responses following COVID-19.
Roukens AHE, Pothast CR, König M, Huisman W, Dalebout T, Tak T, et al.
Nature Immunology. 2022;23(1):23–+.
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Immuno-functionomics reveals geographical variation and a role for TLR8 in mRNA vaccine responses.
Huisman W, Azimi S, Nguyen YN, de Kroon AC, de Ruiter K, Tahapary DL, et al.
iScience. 2025;28(11).
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Tracking the progeny of adoptively transferred virus-specific T cells in patients posttransplant using TCR sequencing.
Huisman W, Roex MCJ, Hageman L, Koster EAS, Veld SAJ, Hoogstraten C, et al.
Blood Adv. 2023;7(5):812–27.
Groups:
Mucosal and systems immunology
