Debbie van Baarle

Prof. dr. Debbie van Baarle is a leading academic at the University of Groningen's Faculty of Medical Sciences, heading the Translational Immunology Groningen (TRIGR) group. Her work bridges immunology, vaccinology, and public health with a focus on viral infection immune responses and aging-related immunosenescence.

• Current research priorities include:
• HLA-restricted T cell responses to viral pathogens
• Gut microbiome influence on vaccine efficacy
• Cytomegalovirus aging studies
• Population-level immune correlates for protection

Recent publications highlight her expertise in COVID-19 vaccine immunology, transplant recipient immunity, and cross-disciplinary aging research. She directs the VITAL consortium (IMI H2020) studying vaccines in aging populations and has contributed to mRNA vaccine immune profiling in immunocompromised patients.

• Key immunology themes:
• Antigen-presentation dynamics
• T cell receptor repertoire analysis
• Population immunity modeling
• Vaccine response biomarkers
• Microbiome-immune interactions
• HLA polymorphism studies