Monika Wolkers joins prestigious cancer institute Oncode

Monika Wolkers and her research group have been selected to join the prestigious Oncode Institute. Dr. Wolkers will bring her longstanding expertise in T-cell biology into this nationwide academic partnership. With her membership Sanquin consolidates her research into the medical need “cancer”.  

Oncode has grown to 62 research groups, spread over 12 academic institutions throughout The Netherlands. With its latest expansion, Oncode welcomes a total of 4 new institutes: Amsterdam UMC - location VUMC, Leiden University, UMC Groningen and Sanquin.

How post-transcriptional regulation drives T-cell function

Dr. Wolkers focuses on post-transcriptional gene regulation in T-cells and how this affects anti-tumour effects of the immune system. “Mouse models allow us to study the fundamental aspects of T-cell responses, while our study on tumour-reactive human T-cells allows translation to clinically relevant models like non-small-cell lung cancer derived T-cells”, Wolkers explains. In her experience, cross-talk between disciplines - as stimulated in the Oncode Institute - yields to highly innovative research.

Dr. Wolkers has been selected during an open, highly competitive recruitment call. She  is groupleader at the Department of Hematopoiesis of Sanquin Research.

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