A central and much debated topic in the study of language acquisition concerns the nature of the learning mechanisms that are required. Are the computational and learning mechanisms that guide learning about language structure special and specific to language or humans?

Metabolic diseases are a burden on the European population and health care system. It is increasingly recognised that individual differences with respect to history, lifestyle, and genetic make-up affect disease progression and treatment response. A Systems Medicine approach, based on computational…

An e-coaching programme helps people with chronic kidney disease, particularly in areas that patients themselves want to work on. ‘A healthy lifestyle is important for patients with kidney disease: it can slow down the loss of kidney function and there will be fewer complications,’ Katja Cardol explains…

During illness, the stiffness or viscosity of cells can change. Tom Evers demonstrated this by measuring such properties of human immune cells for the first time. ‘The stiffness of certain cells could be a way to make a diagnosis,’ Evers said. He defended his thesis on March 26th.

Psychologist Ellen de Bruijn studies the effects of hormonal fluctuations on behaviour and on the brain over a woman's life course. With an ERC Consolidator grant, she and 3 PhDs and a postdoc will further her EEG research on the different stages at which girls and women experience strong hormonal f…

Detection of cerebral beta-amyloid (Abeta) by targeted contrast agents remains of great interest to aid the in vivo diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Bis-styrylbenzenes have been previously reported as potential Abeta imaging agents.

Childhood obesity is an increasing health issue. In the first part of this thesis comorbidities in children with obesity were studied, concerning the diagnostic process and dosing regimens.

Acute cardiovascular clinical events such as myocardial infarction and cerebral stroke represent the major cause of death in Western societies. These pathologies are primarily resulting from atherosclerosis, a progressive condition characterized by the accumulation of lipids, immune cells, and fibrous…

The skin protects the body from unwanted influences from the environment as well as excessive water loss. The barrier function of the skin is located in the stratum corneum (SC).

Acute cardiovascular syndromes, including myocardial infarction or stroke, are the principal cause of death in the Western society. The main underlying pathology of cardiovascular diseases is atherosclerosis, which is caused by the accumulation of lipids and inflammatory cells in the vessel wall, in…

How can zebrafish research help understanding human diseases?

Iranian molecular plant biologist Salma Balazadeh started her career in Germany. Now she sets up a research group in Leiden to study stress in plants to secure global food supply. Her outlook on women in science in the context of the International Day for Women and Girls in Science, 11 February.

Do large deletions represent a risk during CRISP/CAS9-mediated genome editing in plants?

The availability of complete plant genome sequences together with the ever increasing amount of data on the molecular, cellular and physiological mechanisms of plant development require mathematical and computational models to obtain a complete overview of and generate new insights into the quantitative…

In the MS Cognitietour, psychologists and neuroscientists from Leiden University discuss the latest scientific knowledge with MS patients and their loved ones. This leads to insights: 'One lady told how much stress she felt from all those caregivers around her bed.'

Promotores: J. Jonkers, K.E. de Visser

We aim to understand ion homeostasis in the model eukaryote S. cerevisiae.

Dr. Barbara Veselka recently published an article on Vitamin D deficiency in 19th century skeletal remains in the International Journal of Paleopathology.

How is inflammation in tuberculosis controlled by interplay between autophagy and inflammasome signalling?

The word ¨pyroptosis¨ can be understood as ¨fiery falling¨, which describes the bursting of pro-inflammatory signals from the dying cell. Our observations indicate that pyroptosis also ¨spreads like wildfire¨ and once a cell dies via pyroptotic cell death, neighbouring cells are more prone to die as…

As part of the NEXUS1492 project, this project will use ancient DNA techniques to shed new light on the demographic and health history of the Caribbean and the impact of European colonization on indigenous communities in the region.

Supervisor: Lizi Xia

What is the role of auxin in the initiation and process of somatic embryogenesis?

On the occasion of the Women & Girls in Science Day, BBC Science Focus Magazine highlighted 6 prominent female chemists. Among them is Leiden professor Ewine van Dishoeck: 'Astrochemist investigating the building blocks of life'.

On 18 May 2022 Lan-Yi Yang successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

In the hunt for a vaccine against cervical cancer, fundamental knowledge about the immune system and organic chemistry have been brought together and have already resulted in a vaccine that is now being tested in clinical trials. Scientists are now working hard on an improved variant.

Effective host defence against tuberculosis bacteria depends on a properly balanced level of inflammation. The Inflammafish project uses zebrafish larvae to study how autophagy controls this inflammation and vice versa.

The structure of bacterial cells provides crucial clues about their interaction with their host. What are the key structural features of a bacterial cell that determine pathogenicity? What roles do these structures play in the life cycle, and how do they change during the infection process?

Heart failure is a major health care problem with high mortality.

Transplantation of labial salivary glands to the eyelids for patients with dry eye appears to give excellent results clinically.

PhD defence

Can we enhance the capacity of host immune cells to kill mycobacteria via production of reactive nitrogen species?

JUSTREMIT is an ERC-funded project that brings together political theory, ethnography, and security studies in an interdisciplinary study of remittances and global justice.

Together with patient representatives, clinician-researchers from Radboucumc (Internal Medicine) Amsterdam UMC and researchers from Leiden University (Andrea Evers and Henriët van Middendorp) have received the Medical Inspirator Prize 2019 of The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development…

What is the role of cell wall-deficiency in the persistence of tuberculosis?

Health psychologist Andrea Evers has won the Stevin Prize – alongside the Spinoza Prize, the highest scientific award in the Netherlands. Evers: 'It’s also a prize for our whole team and our many contacts within and outside the University.’

Promotores: Prof. Dr. Th.J.C. van Berkel, Prof. Dr. M. van Eck

As a new vision on food production, the feasibility study on LED light to grow crops with the biological- and chemical evaluation of final products.

Which plant leaf characteristics are involved in thrips resistance in tomato?

Biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) for natural products are widespread in microbial genomes, and they are rapidly exchanged. This research assesses the factors that control the spread of BGCs and resistance genes in nature. This includes risk assessment for the spread of engineered DNA in nature.