José A.M. Borghans, PhD

Research Interests:

Our major research line encompasses the quantification of leukocyte dynamics. Despite enormous advances in the field of immunology, many fundamental, quantitative insights are still lacking, including the expected lifespan of different types of leukocytes, the contribution of thymus and bone marrow output to leukocyte homeostasis, and changes in lymphocyte diversity during ageing. This lack of information hampers our understanding of the immunological changes that occur during healthy ageing, and in different diseases.
Our research group aims to reveal such quantitative insights by taking an interdisciplinary approach, by combining experimental work with mathematical analyses. Experimental immunologists and mathematicians are working together on a daily basis, ensuring a permanent dialogue between the two. Using different labelling strategies, including in vivo stable isotope labelling, we study the daily production rates of different types of leukocytes – in particular T cells, how they are maintained during healthy ageing, and how these processes are disturbed in diseases such as leukemia, HIV infection, and after haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation.