Visiting Professor

Professor Maria Yazdanbakhsh, from Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), is a visiting professor to CERMEL, appointed since 2010. She has been involved in training and capacity building through collaborative studies on parasitic infections as well as allergies and type 2 diabetes.

She is involved in organization of training modules and scientific meetings that serve to upgrade the knowledge and technical skills of scientists working at CERMEL. She has supervised several MSc and PhD students working at CERMEL in sandwich programs. One of the directors of CERMEL, Professor Akim Adegnika, completed his PhD under her supervision as did one of the successful PIs at CERMEL, Dr. Ghyslain Mombo Ngoa. She is currently hosting three PhD students from CERMEL in LUMC, who are being trained in immunological studies.
This strong training component is often part of collaborative projects that are funded by EU, DFG, BMBF, NWO-WOTRO programs.

Professor Maria Yazdanbakhsh, leads the department of Parasitology at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) which aligns basic and clinical research and employs an interdisciplinary group of basic and clinical scientists who focus on understanding host-parasite interactions at the molecular, cellular and population level. The knowledge gained is being applied to achieve the Department’s mission of contributing to 1) development of effective vaccines against parasitic diseases and 2) identification of parasite-derived immune modulatory molecules to control hyper-inflammatory diseases. Thus department of Parasitology at LUMC participates in the global fight against poverty-related and neglected diseases, and at the same time in the mandate to combat hyperinflammatory diseases.

Professor Maria Yazdanbakhsh, leads the department of Parasitology
at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC)