Els Goulmy (born 27 November 1946, The Hague) is an eminent professor of transplantation biology, especially regarding minor histocompatibility antigen, at Leiden University. [1] Goulmy is an expert in the area of tissue typing and belongs internationally to the absolute top of her discipline. She was awarded the Spinoza Prize in 2002. [2]
Goulmy did groundbreaking research on the role of antigens in organ and stem cell transplantation. She is the pioneer of the so-called Minor Transplantation Antigens in men. Minor antigens can induce strong immune reactions. She discovered the H-Y minor antigen encoded by the Y-chromosome (1976) and the autosomally encoded HA-1 antigen (1983). She then described the polymorphism and the population frequencies of several autosomal minor antigens. Crucial was her work on the differential expression of minor antigens showing either overall expression on all body cells, such as the male specific H-Y antigens, or restricted expression on solely blood and blood cancer cells, such as HA-1. Goulmy was the first to describe the chemical structure of the human minor antigens (1995). In 1996 she demonstrated the crucial role of minor antigens in the outcome of organ and stem cell transplantation. In 1997 she launched new concepts for immunotherapy of blood cancer applying the blood and cancer cell specific minor antigens, such as HA-1, for tumor specific treatment. The basis for the translation ‘from the lab to the clinic’ of these cancer and patient specific treatment was laid in her laboratory. Hereby minor antigens, such as HA-1, are used as ‘vaccin’ to boost the anti-blood cancer reaction in the patients' body.
Els Goulmy has a remarkable career. After secondary school and an education for laboratory technician, she worked as a clinical-chemical technician in Nijmegen, Switzerland and Norway. In 1972 she started as research technician at the University Hospital in Leiden in the department of Jon van Rood. Goulmy has a Master en Immunology (cum laude 1984) and a Doctorat d’Etat es Sciences Naturelles (summa cum laude 1985) of the Paris University ‘Paris VI Pierre et Marie Curie'. In 1990 she worked as visiting scientist in the Department of Cell Biology of the Stanford University School of Medicine (USA). Goulmy wrote over 250 scientific articles among which several in Nature and Science. For her scientific pioneering work, she received nationally and internationally more than a dozen prices and awards among which the Spinoza Prize of the Netherlands Organization of Scientific Research. Goulmy was active in many national and international scientific advisory committees, among which the KNAW, the European Research Council and Institut Pasteur. Goulmy was one of the founders of the Dutch Network of Women Professors (2001) and their president from 2001-2012. (Landelijk Netwerk Vrouwelijke Hoogleraren). [3] She is a member of the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW)
Since November 11, 2011 Goulmy is an emeritus professor. Following her farewell speech, she was honoured with the distinction 'Knight in the order of the Netherlands Lion'.
Leiden University is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. It was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, making it the oldest institution of higher education in the Netherlands.
Robertus Henricus "Robbert" Dijkgraaf FRSE is a Dutch theoretical physicist, mathematician and string theorist, and the current Minister of Education, Culture and Science in the Netherlands. From July 2012 until his inauguration as minister in January 2022, he had been the director and Leon Levy professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, and a tenured professor at the University of Amsterdam.
Ronald Hans Anton Plasterk is a Dutch scientist, entrepreneur and retired politician of the Labour Party (PvdA). He has earned a PhD degree in biology, specialised in molecular genetics. Being a former Minister in the Cabinet of the Netherlands, he has been the founder and CEO of Frame Cancer Therapeutics since December 2018. Next to his work at Frame, he has been appointed as professor at the University of Amsterdam since September 2018.
Minor histocompatibility antigen are peptides presented on the cellular surface of donated organs that are known to give an immunological response in some organ transplants. They cause problems of rejection less frequently than those of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). Minor histocompatibility antigens (MiHAs) are diverse, short segments of proteins and are referred to as peptides. These peptides are normally around 9-12 amino acids in length and are bound to both the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I and class II proteins. Peptide sequences can differ among individuals and these differences arise from SNPs in the coding region of genes, gene deletions, frameshift mutations, or insertions. About a third of the characterized MiHAs come from the Y chromosome. Prior to becoming a short peptide sequence, the proteins expressed by these polymorphic or diverse genes need to be digested in the proteasome into shorter peptides. These endogenous or self peptides are then transported into the endoplasmic reticulum with a peptide transporter pump called TAP where they encounter and bind to the MHC class I molecule. This contrasts with MHC class II molecules's antigens which are peptides derived from phagocytosis/endocytosis and molecular degradation of non-self entities' proteins, usually by antigen-presenting cells. MiHA antigens are either ubiquitously expressed in most tissue like skin and intestines or restrictively expressed in the immune cells.
Lysine-specific demethylase 5D is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the KDM5D gene. KDM5D belongs to the alpha-ketoglutarate-dependent hydroxylases superfamily.
Minor histocompatibility protein HA-1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the HMHA1 gene.
Dorret I. Boomsma is a Dutch biological psychologist specializing in genetics and twin studies.
Patricia Maria (Patti) Valkenburg is a Distinguished Professor of Communication at the University of Amsterdam. She is the founder and director of Center for research on Children, Adolescents, and the Media (CCAM). She is a fellow of the International Communication Association. In 2011, she received the Spinoza Prize, the highest Dutch award in science.
Piet Gros is a Dutch chemist and professor biomacromolecular crystallography at Utrecht University. In 2010 he received the NWO Spinoza Prize for the elucidation of the three-dimensional structure of the C3 protein, which plays a central role in the complement system and contributes to innate immunity.
Marijn Franx is a Dutch professor of astronomy at Leiden University. He was a winner of the 2010 Spinoza Prize. His research focuses on the formation and evolution of galaxies. He is involved with both the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes.
Ineke Sluiter is a Dutch classicist and professor of Greek Language and Literature at Leiden University since 1998. Her research focuses on language, literature, and public discourse in classical antiquity. She was a winner of the 2010 Spinoza Prize. Sluiter has been president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences since June 2020, and previously served as vice president from 2018 to 2020.
Michel D. Ferrari is a Swiss neurologist and professor of neurology at Leiden University and Leiden University Medical Center. He was a winner of the 2009 Spinoza Prize. He is considered to be the foremost migraine expert of the Netherlands, as well as one of the six top scientist in the field worldwide.
Marjo S. van der Knaap is a Dutch professor of pediatric neurology at VU University Amsterdam and Amsterdam University Medical Centers. She was a winner of the 2008 Spinoza Prize. Her research focuses on white matter disorders.
Marileen Dogterom is a Dutch biophysicist and professor at the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at Delft University of Technology. She published in Science, Cell, and Nature and is notable for her research of the cell cytoskeleton. For this research, she was awarded the 2018 Spinoza Prize.
Eveline Crone is a Dutch professor of cognitive neuroscience and developmental psychology at Leiden University. Her research focuses on risky behaviors in adolescent humans during puberty and examines the function of those risks. For her research in adolescent brain development and behaviour, she was awarded the Spinoza Prize, the highest recognition for Dutch scientists, in 2017.
Mayke de Jong is a Dutch historian and Professor Emerita of Medieval History at Utrecht University. Her research focuses on the political and religious history of the early Middle Ages.
Jacques (Sjaak) Neefjes is a Dutch scientist who made breakthroughs in several research disciplines such as immunology, cell biology, chemistry, cancer biology, microbiology, and epidemiology. He is a professor at the Leiden University Medical Center. In 2020 he was one of four winners of the Spinoza Prize.
Bob Löwenberg is a clinical hematologist/investigator. He is Professor of Hematology at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Cornelis Joseph Maria Melief is a globally recognised immunology expert specialising in cancer immunology and immunotherapy, with special focus on therapeutic cancer vaccines. He is Emeritus Professor, former head of the Department of Immunohematology and Blood Transfusion at the Leiden University Medical Center, and Chief Scientific Officer at ISA Therapeutics in Netherlands. He is known for his work in the field of cancer immunology, devising new cancer therapies based on the activation of the patient’s own immune system.
Karina Elizabeth de Visser, also named "Karin E. de Visser", is a researcher at the Netherlands Cancer Institute. Her research considers metastatic formation and how the immune system influences how people respond to cancer treatment.
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