Jannie Borst is professor in Immunology (specifically cellular and molecular immunology) at Leiden University and head of the department Immunology at Leiden University Medical Center. She is also professor of Experimental Oncology at the University of Amsterdam, member of the Oncode Institute, member of EMBO, recipient of the Van Loghem career award of the Dutch society for Immunology, multiple ZonMW Top grants and a Constantijn & Christaan Huygensfellowship of NWO.

More information about Jannie Keyser-Borst

Immunology

The professorship aims to foster teaching, basic and translational research and the clinical application thereof in the field of Immunology. The immune system has evolved to protect us against infectious disease and can be deliberately activated to act against cancer. When overactive or derailed, it can be the cause of autoimmune disease and chronic inflammation. It can also be an impediment in organ or tissue transplantation or successful pregnancy. All these aspects of immune function have common cellular and molecular grounds that are the subject of investigation, with the aim to improve diagnostics and treatment of immune-related diseases, including immunodeficiencies and cancer.

Academic career

Jannie Borst obtained a Master in Biology with Chemistry at Leiden University in 1980. She did the major part of her PhD work at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School in Boston, under supervision of prof. Cox P. Terhorst. On the basis of this work, she obtained her PhD degree from Leiden University in 1985, with prof. Jon. J van Rood as promotor (title thesis: “The T3/T cell receptor complex: protein composition and functional properties”). In this thesis, she describes the molecular complex that is responsible for antigen recognition by T lymphocytes. In 1987, she started her independent career as a research group leader at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) in Amsterdam, where she worked until 2019, since 2002 as head of the Division of Immunology.  Her research group has consisted of 10-14 people over the years, maintained by competitive grants. She has made important contributions to the understanding of the T cell response against infection and cancer and has helped to developed a new immunotherapeutic drug against cancer that is now in clinical testing. Since 1999, she is also professor in Experimental Oncology at the University of Amsterdam and since recently also coordinator of the track Oncology in the Master Biomedical Sciences at that university.

Publications