dr. Simon Jochems

Research

I lead a research group which uses novel minimally-invasive sampling methods to collect samples from the upper airways and lymphoid tissues in humans. This allows us to study immune responses to infection and vaccination at the site where they are being induced and where they are needed to provide protection. For this, we collaborate with clinicians and researchers locally, nationally and internationally.

Our research is supported by grants and fellowships from the among others Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, European Research Council, ZonMW and NWO. I have also received the LUMC Gisela Fellowship and a VIDI Fellowship (ZonMW).

Current specific focuses of the group are around the dynamics of host-pathogen interactions in the upper respiratory tract of children, the development and maintenance of mucosal immunity and how this is affected by age, and the mechanisms underlying the development of polysaccharide-specific immunity in lymphoid tissues. We combine state of the art immunological assays with computational tools such as machine learning approaches to elucidate these complex immunological processes.

Curriculum Vitae

I studied Biomedical Sciences at Utrecht University, followed by a PhD at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, where I studied immune responses to simian immunodeficiency virus infection in natural hosts in the group of Michaela Muller-Trutwin.

Following my PhD, I performed postdoctoral research in the experimental human pneumococcal carriage model group led by Prof. Daniela Ferreira at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. There I developed novel minimally-invasive methods to study nasal immune responses in the context of controlled human respiratory infections.

In 2019, I moved to LUMC to set up his own group, focusing on human immune responses to infection and vaccination not just in blood but also in tissues.