Erasmus University Medical Center (The Netherlands)

Project coordinator, Prof. Marion Koopmans of Erasmus MC, is a virologist with extensive experience in the field of infectious diseases. Her public health engagements in several high-profile responses to epidemic threats (and in the COVID-19 pandemic) stand as an example of the consortium dedicated to public health. Prof. Koopmans’ experience in leading several ZON-MW, NWO, FP7, and H2020 consortia will ensure that the REFINE team is efficiently managed in a range of critical aspects covering both research leadership and health policy development. Prof. Koopmans is a member of the WHO advisory panel on SARS-CoV-2 virus evolution and of the Dutch National Academy of Sciences (KNAW). Her experience with advising on public health policy will ensure the timely alignment of research efforts in REFINE with global health priorities and practicalities. Moreover, her experience in public communication strategies, effective in controlling the spread of infectious diseases, will ensure far-reaching public health impact.

Prof. Koopmans coordinates Erasmus MC team which includes:

1. Asst. Prof. Gijsbert P. van Nierop, an expert in virus-specific humoral immunity. Focusing on the impact of antibody cross-reactivity on immune and virus evolution in coronaviruses and flaviviruses he developed a B-cell platform for an unbiased clonal analysis of antibody responses to a range of viral strains.
2. Dr. Bart Haagmans, an expert in molecular mechanisms of virus entry and replication. His work focuses on identifying and characterizing the key viral and host factors that facilitate cross-species transmission, which is critical for understanding the ontology of epidemics.
3. Prof. Debby van Riel, known for her work on the pathogenesis of respiratory viruses, contributes to the understanding of virus-host interactions at the respiratory tract level.
4. Dr. Reina Sikkema, with her background in veterinary virology and expertise in surveillance of zoonotic diseases. Her work provides essential insights into the ecological and epidemiological factors driving virus spillover effects.