Radboud University Medical Center (RUMC)
The Radboud University Medical Center (RUMC) is a teaching hospital affiliated with the Radboud University Nijmegen. It is one of the largest and leading academic hospitals in the Netherlands, providing supraregional tertiary care for the eastern region of the Netherlands. The Department of Pediatrics/ Laboratory of Pediatric Infectious Diseases (LPID) focuses on improvement of child health by early detection, prevention, and treatment of severe infections. The research aims to translate basic science findings into medical practice. Using a multi-faceted approach of microbiological, genetic, proteomic, and immunological techniques, LPID contributes significantly to the understanding of the biological mechanisms of immunity against S. pneumoniae, Respiratory Syncytial virus, B. pertussis, and other respiratory pathogens. The research is embedded within the Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences (RIMLS). The LPID has been working closely with the Center for Molecular and Biomolecular Informatics (CMBI) in Nijmegen. The CMBI specialises in the comparative analysis of genomics data in the study of diseases. They have developed methods for large scale data integration for pathway prediction.
The RUMC has extensive facilities and platforms, including biobanking, state of the art analyses, next generation sequencing, and bioinformatic experience. RUMC is one of the world leaders in innate immune response studies. Within the PERISCOPE project, RUMC will be in charge of the recruitment of naturally infected individuals, the establishment of a centralized human biobank, a B and T cell library, and the study of mucosal and systemic immune responses with a focus on innate immunity. In addition, we provide leadership to the academic consortium and to the work package on infection-induced immunity.
Ronald de Groot is emeritus professor of pediatrics and a pediatric infectious diseases specialist with a track record in clinical, immunological, and molecular research on childhood sepsis, meningitis, respiratory tract infections, HIV/AIDS, and neonatal infections. His current research interests focus on microbial pathogenesis and immunogenetics of infections by and host-response against S. pneumoniae, N. meningitidis, RSV, and B. pertussis. He has initiated large cohort studies of meningococcal disease with a focus on genetic host determinants. De Groot is a member of the Dutch Health Council, the Central Committee on Research involving Human Subjects (CCMO) and he was a member of the workgroup on the national immunization programme of the health council.