NVF webinar 10th of April 2024, 16:00 CET, Prof. Linette Willemsen and Dr. Karim Rafie

We invite you to the lectures of Associate Professor Linette Willemsen and Assistant Professor Karim Rafie.

When? 10th of April 16:00-17:00 CET

Speaker 1: Associate Professor, Linette Willemsen, Pharmacology, Utrecht University, Mucosal Immunology and Pharma & Nutrition

Title of the talk: Allergy preventive effects of (human milk) oligosaccharides in preclinical models of allergic sensitization

About Speaker: My research focusses on the mechanisms by which specific dietary components such as fermentable fibers and their bacterial fermentation products, or n-3 long chain poly-unsaturated fatty acids reduce the risk of developing non-communicable immune disorders such as food allergy or asthma. These components improve mucosal and/or systemic immune function as we showed in vivo, and in human in vitro co-culture models studying the crosstalk between structural (epithelial cells) and immune cells. Recently we developed a sequential series of co-culture models mimicking the allergic sensitization cascade, in which we studied the immunomodulatory effect of human milk oligosaccharides on allergen induced type 2 activation. By creating awareness for the beneficial effects of dietary components on immune health, I hope this will lead to their future use as adjunct therapy to support pharma. In this talk, I will explain the rational behind our recently developed in vitro models to study allergic sensitization and I will show some allergy and asthma protective effects of non-digestible oligosaccharides.

Speaker 2: Assistant Professor, Karim Rafie, Assistant Professor, Molecular pharmacology, Groningen Research Institute of Pharmacy, Groningen

Title of the talk: Visualising human adenovirus capsid structures with cryo-EM – Insights into tissue selectivity and receptor binding

About Speaker: Viruses are one of the most ubiquitous pathogens and are a constant cause of disease. However, our understanding of how viruses alter our cells to benefit their replication is still poorly understood. In my lab, we aim to elucidate the mechanisms through which viruses modify mitochondria to facilitate viral replication. Our comprehensive approach combines x-ray crystallography, cryo-EM, and in situ cryo-ET with techniques from biochemistry, cell biology, and virology. The knowledge gained from our studies will contribute to the development of novel antiviral strategies.