Jaap van Buul appointed professor of Molecular Cell Biology of Cell Migration
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Dr J.D. van Buul (1973) has been named professor by special appointment of Molecular Cell Biology of Cell Migration at the University of Amsterdam’s (UvA) Faculty of Science. The chair was established on behalf of the Sanquin Foundation.
Jaap van Buul investigates how white blood cells migrate from the blood stream through the blood vessel wall to the infection site during an inflammatory reaction. The endothelial cells, the inner cell layer of the vascular wall, seem to play a crucial role in this process. Next to assigning a clear role to the migrating white blood cells in their attempt to pass through the vascular wall, it is the vascular wall itself that might play a much more prominent role. After all, the vascular wall manages to prevent the vessels from leaking whenever a white blood cell migrates through them. Van Buul’s lab investigates the molecular mechanisms that underlie this phenomenon.
As professor by special appointment, Van Buul will focus on implementing advanced microscopic techniques in functional cell biological processes, such as those described above. He will do this in close collaboration with Prof. Dorus Gadella and Dr. Joachim Goedhart, both of whom are affiliated with the Leewenhoek Centre for Advanced Microscopy (LCAM) and the Molecular Cytology division of the UvA’s Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences (SILS). In addition, he will teach to students of the UvA’s Master’s programme in Biomedical Sciences.
About Jaap van Buul
Van Buul has been affiliated with Sanquin since 2006, and became the head of the Molecular Cell Biology laboratory in 2016. He previously conducted postdoctoral research and was a group leader at the same organisation. From 2004 to 2006, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center’s department of Developmental and Cell Biology. Van Buul is the co-founder and chair of the Dutch Endothelial Biology Society and president of the Dutch Society for Cell Biology. In addition, he is a member of the European Vascular Biology Organisation. Van Buul is the recipient of a Dekker Grant from the Dutch Heart Foundation and a Veni grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).
Van Buul has published over 70 scientific papers in international peer-reviewed journals, including Trends in Immunology, Nature Communications and Cell Reports. He is also a member of the editorial board of Atherosclerosis Journal.
Text taken from UvA Persvoorlichting
