Affiliation: RIMLS, Tumour Immunology Lab, NL
Keywords: Chemical Immunology, Chemical Biology, Tumor Immunology, Cancer Immunotherapy, Cancer Vaccines, Tumor Microenvironment, Activity-based Probes, Proteases
Full profile:
Martijn Verdoes obtained his PhD degree in Organic Chemistry from Leiden University in 2008. His thesis work mainly focused on the design and synthesis of activity-based inhibitors and probes to study proteasome function. In 2009, Martijn got awarded a NWO Rubicon Fellowship and he joined the lab of Prof. Matthew Bogyo at the Stanford School of Medicine, California, USA, where he designed and synthesized quenched activity-based probes (qABPs) for non-invasive imaging of cancer. Inspired by the observation that his qABPs got activated in specific immune cells in tumors he joined the Tumor Immunology Department in the Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences (RIMLS) in 2013. In 2015, he got awarded an Institute of Chemical Immunology Tenure Track Fellowship as well as an ERC Starting Grant. Martijn Verdoes is Assistant Professor at the Department of Tumor Immunology, Radboudumc and is affiliated with Bio-organic Chemistry at the Faculty of Science, Radboud University.
Research interests:
Research interests include organic chemistry, chemical biology and tumor immunology with the aim to combine all these disciplines in the new and emerging field of chemical immunology. Current research projects focus on the development of novel immunomodulatory approaches to aid cancer immunotherapy. Molecularly defined macromolecules are synthesized to deliver tumor antigens to dendritic cells to educate the immune system. Furthermore, molecules which are able to dampen the immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment are designed and synthesized to prime a tumor for infiltrating effector immune cells. To study the role of proteases in cancer, in specific immune cells and in specific cellular compartments, smart imaging tools – activity-based probes – are designed and synthesized and applied in noninvasive optical imaging, intravital microscopy and biochemical characterization studies. Together, the research efforts at the interface of chemistry and immunology will give us new insights in the development of more effective and safer immunotherapeutic approaches.