Immunotherapy is rapidly becoming a standard treatment of various diseases, with cancer therapies leading the way over the past decade. Recent advances in understanding the crucial role of the immune system in disease control have made immunotherapy life-changing for some patients. Nonetheless, many questions remain unanswered, particularly regarding why some patients do not benefit from treatment or develop immune-related adverse events. To address these challenges, the Amsterdam UMC ImmunoTherapy Center was established in 2021. Its goal is to unite clinicians and scientists, fostering collaboration and accelerating the translation of immunological research into new treatments and diagnostic tools.
Immune Monitoring Unit: Advancing Patient Care
The ImmunoTherapy Center has optimized its infrastructure to include a dedicated “Immune monitoring Unit”. This unit serves as a center of expertise and provides a platform for immune monitoring in both clinical trials and pre-clinical research. Studying the immune system’s response to treatment offers valuable insights that can support clinical decision-making. Whether uncovering mechanisms of action or helping to predict treatment success, this knowledge will directly benefit patients.
Integrating knowledge from different fields related to the immune system is beneficial to provide insight into disease pathology and the effects of immune-modulating therapies.
Practical Support and Collaboration
The Immunotherapy Center aims to make immune monitoring accessible by offering a database of optimized panels for high-dimensional immune cell phenotyping and support research groups in conducting experiments and complex analyses. If you are interested in exploring possibilities, please contact us at immunotherapycenter@amsterdamumc.nl. Especially if you are in the process of writing a grant, we can provide you with options and cost estimates .
More information about the center, please visit our website (About Us – Immunotherapy Center)
Director
Marjolein van Egmond
Business Development Director and Operational Manager
Annelies Turksma
Executive Board
Juan Garcia Vallejo (co-director Immune monitoring Unit)
Tanja de Gruijl (co-director Immune monitoring Unit)
Yvette van Kooyk
Sarah Derks
Theo Rispens
Marijn Kramer
Filip Eftimov