Consortium

Short description

The Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) is a University Medical Center for research, education and patient care, with a high quality profile and a strong scientific orientation. Research ranges from pure fundamental medical research to applied clinical research, and the top clinical functions and “last resort” tasks are rooted in research. The LUMC provides four main research profiles, one of which is Immunology and Infectious diseases. The Department of Ophthalmology focusses on translational research in several areas, including refractive surgery, imaging of the anterior segment and corneal transplantation. The department is active in the long‐term evaluation of anterior segment implanted intra‐ocular lenses (lobster claw lenses).

Main roles in the project

WP5:
WP8:

Key persons involved

Martine Jager (female) – PhD, Principal investigator

Dr Jager is a worldrenowned expert in the immunology of ocular surface diseases and ocular malignancies. She received her PhD in immunology from Leiden University, did her residency in Ophthalmology at the University of Amsterdam, and a clinical fellowship in Corneal and Ocular Surface Diseases at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami. She holds a position as adjunct scientist at the Schepens Eye Research institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston. She mentors medical and PhD students, in the Netherlands as well as abroad. Dr Jager has been a Board member of the European Association for vision and Eye Research (EVER), and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), of which she was President, and member of the Advisory Board of the International Council of Ophthalmology. As past‐president of ARVO, she is active in developing ARVO Chapters to stimulate eye research world‐wide. She participates as reviewer and member of the Editorial Board in several ophthalmological journals, including Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. In 1992, she received a grant from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences to set up a research laboratory for ocular immunology and oncology and has since that time continuously held research grants. She initiated to develop a European network of cornea and regenerative medicine specialists in order to foster and to coordinate European research on cornea and ocular surface diseases, reconstruction and regeneration from basic research to medical application, and is therefore Vice‐Chairman of the COST grant NEXCR (Network of Excellence in Corneal Regeneration). She has received many accolades and is a member of the European and the International Academy of Ophthalmology. The expertise she brings to this proposal is a wide experience on developing translational research, on the immunology of ocular surface diseases and corneal transplantation and the development of a Fish Scale‐derived corneal scaffold.

LiU – AAE – NIIOS – UZA – UKK – UMH – AU – LBG – LinkoCare – OPMedT – Novaliq – LUMC – MLL