Hedwich  Kuipers

Dr. Hedwich Kuipers

PhD
Pronouns: She/Her

Positions

Assistant Professor

Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Clinical Neurosciences

Assistant Professor

Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy

Full Member

Hotchkiss Brain Institute

Full Member

The Calvin, Phoebe and Joan Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases

Contact information

Phone number

Office: 1.403.210.7636

Location

Office: HMRB179
Lab: HMRB185

Background

Educational Background

PhD Immunology, University of Leiden, 2007

MSc/BSc Biopharmaceutical Sciences, University of Leiden, 2001

Research

Areas of Research

Multiple Sclerosis
Neuroinflammatory diseases
Interaction of immune & resident cells in the central nervous system
Activities

The general interest of my lab is in neuroinflammatory diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and trying to understand the interaction between immune cells entering the central nervous system (CNS) and its resident cells. The main focus is on astrocytes, a cell type in the CNS, whose role in neuroinflammatory diseases is much overlooked. We have shown before that these cells, which are the most abundant cell type in the brain, can release factors that help immune cells infiltrate into CNS tissue. We are currently investigating how astrocytes interact with these immune cells and how they shape their responses, using molecular and cell biology approaches, as well as animal models of MS. 

Participation in university strategic initiatives