Biosketch
Bart started his PhD at the department of Parasitology at the Leiden University Medical Center, studying the immunomodulatory effects of parasitic worms on dendritic cells (DCs). In 2010, he conitnued as a postdoctoral fellow to work in the emerging field of immunometabolism of DCs, in the group of Prof. Dr. E.J. Pearce at the School of Medicine of Washington University in the USA. In 2014, he returned to the the LUMC, where he is now an associate professor. With his group he aims to unravel the metabolic underpinnings of the immunoregulatory functions of DCs and macrophages, to identify metabolic pathways that can be targeted to manipulate the functional properties of myeloid cells for therapeutic purposes.
Research profile
Bart started his PhD in 2005 at the department of Parasitology of the LUMC under supervision of Prof. Dr. M. Yazdanbakhsh, where he developed his passion for dendritic cells (DCs) and their exquisite ability to initiate and control immune responses. During his PhD he identified a unique mechanism through which parasitic helminths can instruct DCs to prime Th2 responses, which resulted in two publications in J Exp Med (2009 & 2012).
In 2010 he started a postdoc in the group of Prof. Dr. E.J. Pearce (Trudeau Institute, Saranac Lake, USA and School of Medicine of Washington University, St Louis, USA) to seize the opportunity to work on the emerging field of immunometabolism of myeloid cells. Here, he pioneered studies to delineate the cellular metabolic requirements for DC activation and their immune-priming capacity. During his postdoctoral training he made significant contributions to the field of DC metabolism, resulting in several well-received publications as main author as well as 16 co-authored publications on immunometabolism of DCs, T cells and macrophages.
Main research questions:
-Role of metabolic sensors in DC-driven T cell priming & polarization
-Role of O-GlcNAcylation in myeloid cell biology and type 2 immune responses
-Mechanisms behind helminth-driven Th2 responses
-Understanding the mechanisms behind immune- and vaccinehyporesponsiveness by studying immune cell metabolism
In 2014 he returned to the LUMC to establish his own independent research group and research line. With his team, he continues to explore new areas within the field of immunometabolism by implementing the latest technologies to decipher how the cellular metabolism and metabolic microenvironment control the functions of DCs and macrophages and how perturbations in their metabolic properties can lead to disease in the context of infection, cancer, diabetes and IBD. His contributions to this field are well recognized as evidenced by being amongst the most highly cited researchers within the field of immunology since 2020 (=top 0.1%, Clarivate index). His ambition is to use the fundamental insights gained for these studies to pinpoint metabolic pathways that can be targeted to manipulate the functional properties of DCs and macrophages for therapeutic purposes.
Positions and training
2020- present: Associate professor. Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands
2019- 2020: Assistant professor. Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands
2014 – 2018: Senior researcher. Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands
Contributions