Researchers Stefan Nierkens

Stefan Nierkens

Associate Professor

Strategic program(s):

Biography

Dr. Stefan Nierkens (PhD) is Associate Professor and Medical Immunologist, accredited according to guidelines of the College of Medical Immunologists of the Dutch Society of Immunology, in the UMC Utrecht and Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology. Within the ISO15189-accredited laboratory his focus areas are Hemato-oncology, Immune monitoring, Cell and functional diagnostics, and Serology.

Dr. Nierkens is Associate Professor Pediatric Tumor Immunology and HCT and focusses on the development of innovative immunotherapy treatment strategies (based on dendritic cells and gene-engineered T cells) to improve the outcome of pediatric cancers (e.g. acute leukemia and neuroblastoma). Furthermore, his lab (12 fte) focuses on the combination of advanced immune monitoring and PK-PD modeling to provide predictable immune reconstitution after hematopoietic cell transplantation.

Strategic program(s):

Contact

snierken@umcutrecht.nl

Pure profile

Research groups

Pediatric tumor immunology

Research aim

We strive to improve efficacy and safety of immune therapy against pediatric cancers, specifically focussing on the function of immune cells in children undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation or receiving CAR-T cells.

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Primary immunodeficiency

Research aim

To address unmet medical needs by detecting novel primary immunodeficiency, and improving clinical practice by optimizing diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of disease.

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Recent publications

All publications

Targeting pediatric cancers via T-cell recognition of the monomorphic MHC class I-related protein MR1 Annelisa M Cornel, Loutje van der Sman, Jip T van Dinter, Marta Arrabito, Ester Dunnebach, Marliek van Hoesel, Thomas A Kluiver, Ana P Lopes, Noël M M Dautzenberg, Linde Dekker, Jorik M van Rijn, Denise A M H van den Beemt, Juliane L Buhl, Aimee du Chatinier, Farnaz Barneh, Yuyan Lu, Luca Lo Nigro, Anja Krippner-Heidenreich, Zsolt Sebestyén, Jurgen Kuball, Esther Hulleman, Jarno Drost, Sebastiaan van Heesch, Olaf T Heidenreich, Weng Chuan Peng, Stefan Nierkens
Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, 2024, vol. 12

Long-term immunity after BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccination in pediatric patients with cancer K. L.Juliëtte Schmidt, Noortje R. Severeijns, Noël M.M. Dautzenberg, Peter M. Hoogerbrugge, Caroline A. Lindemans, Stefan Nierkens, Gaby Smits, Rob S. van Binnendijk, Marta Fiocco, Louis J. Bont, Wim J.E. Tissing
EJC Paediatric Oncology, 2024, vol. 4, p.1-4

Thymic NK-Cells and Their Potential in Cancer Immunotherapy Caitlyn Forbes, Stefan Nierkens, Annelisa M. Cornel
ImmunoTargets and Therapy, 2024, vol. 13, p.183-194

Influence of ATLG serum levels on CD3/CD19-depleted hematopoietic grafts and on immune recovery in pediatric haplo-HSCT Claus Philipp Maier, Chihab Klose, Christian Martin Seitz, Florian Heubach, Michaela Döring, Roland Meisel, Friedhelm Schuster, Bernd Gruhn, Frieder Keller, Armin Rabsteyn, Anne Marie Arendt, Germano Amorelli, Thomas Eichholz, Tobias Feuchtinger, Holger Martinius, Stefan Nierkens, Rouwen Teltschik, Johannes Hubertus Schulte, Claudia Lengerke, Rupert Handgretinger, Peter Lang
Blood Advances, 2024, vol. 8, p.2160-2171

Combining CRISPR-Cas9 and TCR exchange to generate a safe and efficient cord blood-derived T cell product for pediatric relapsed AML Vania Lo Presti, Angelo Meringa, Ester Dunnebach, Alice van Velzen, Aida Valera Moreira, Ronald W Stam, Rishi S Kotecha, Anja Krippner-Heidenreich, Olaf T Heidenreich, Maud Plantinga, Annelisa Cornel, Zsolt Sebestyen, Jurgen Kuball, Niek P van Til, S Nierkens
Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, 2024, vol. 12

B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia elicits an interferon-α/b response in bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stroma Mandy W E Smeets, Elisabeth M P Steeghs, Jan Orsel, Femke Stalpers, Myrthe M P Vermeeren, Christina H J Veltman, Lotte Slenders, Stefan Nierkens, Cesca Van de Ven, Monique L Den Boer
Haematologica, 2024, vol. 109, p.2073-2084

Fellowships & Awards

2023: Joos Kerckhaert Award

External positions

Medical Immunologist, Princess Máxima Center (PMC)