J.E.M.A. Debets

Prof. J.E.M.A. (Reno) Debets, PhD, is a Principal Investigator and Professor in T-Cell Immunity and Adoptive Therapy of Tumors at Erasmus MC-Cancer Institute's Department of Medical Oncology since 2000. He leads a 18-member laboratory focused on tumor immunology, with expertise in T-cell biology, adoptive therapy, and TCR engineering.

• MSc (1991, cum laude) in Biological Sciences, University of Maastricht
• PhD (1996, cum laude) in Inflammation, Erasmus MC Immunology Department
• Postdoctoral work at DNAX Research Institute (1996-1999)
• Certified Immunologist (2005)
• Professor since 2019

His research targets three pillars: (1) Developing adoptive T cell therapies for solid tumors, (2) Investigating tumor-T cell cross-talk mechanisms, (3) Monitoring patient T cell immunity. Key projects include MAGE-C2-specific T cell therapy trials, TCR toxicity assessments, and immune profiling of cancer patients using multiplex technologies. His lab has pioneered gene-engineered T cells for renal cell carcinoma and melanoma treatments.

Recent publications highlight innovations in TCR engineering (2014-2018), immune evasion mechanisms in prostate and breast cancers, and clinical challenges in adoptive therapy. These works span mutational-immune correlations, non-mispairing TCR designs, and preclinical modeling of immunotoxicity.

Scientific Awards:

• Erasmus MC Research Award for PhD thesis (1997)

He supervises over 40 bachelor/master students and 14 PhD/clinical fellows, while organizing international training networks. His advisory roles include Institut National du Cancer (France) and editorial duties for major immunology journals.

The laboratory has established Europe's first gene-engineered T cell phase I/II trials for renal cancer, with ongoing melanoma/head-and-neck cancer studies. Their immune profiling work (Multomab/Responder studies) identifies predictive biomarkers for cancer therapies.