Personal profile
Biography
Emmanuel Wiertz obtained a degree in Veterinary Medicine from Utrecht University in 1986. From 1987-1994, he was investigator and group leader at the Vaccine Development Unit of the National Institute of Health and the Environment in Bilthoven, The Netherlands. In 1993, he obtained a PhD at Utrecht University for his studies on T cell recognition of Neisseria meningitidis outer membrane proteins (awarded cum laude). He received training in immunology, virology and cell biology as an intern at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, and as EMBO fellow at the laboratory of Prof. Hidde Ploegh at MIT, Cambrigde MA (1994-1996). After returning from the US, he briefly went back to the RIVM and subsequently was appointed professor of Medical Microbiology, in particular Experimental Virology, at the Leiden University Medical Center. In 2009, his lab moved to the University Medical Center in Utrecht. The Wiertz lab investigates virus-host interactions, with special interest in viral immune evasion mechanisms. This research is at the interface of virology, immunology and cell biology, a combination of disciplines that has facilitated the elucidation of a variety of fascinating immune evasion strategies employed by herpesviruses. More recently, the lab has adopted novel technologies such as genome-wide shRNA libraries and the CRISPR/Cas technology as powerful instruments to explore new avenues in host-pathogen research.
Fellowship & awards
(co-)awarded many fellowships and research grants in the course of his career. Among them are The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), the Dutch Cancer Society (KWF), several funding schemes of the European Commission, The Dr. F.P. Fischer Foundation, Dutch Diabetes Research Foundation (DFN), and Dutch Arthritis Foundation (DAF).
He is part of the European Horizon 2020 Consortium EDGE, a collaboration among academic, clinical and industrial partners addressing virological and immunological unknowns of herpesvirus infections.
Personal webpage
External positions
Voorzitter sectie virologie - expertise op het gebied van de virologie - KNVM
1 Jun 2016 → 31 Dec 3999
Keywords
- QR355 Virology
- Herpesviruses
- Poxviruses
- Antigen processing
- Antiviral Immunity
- Immune Evasion
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing of the thymidine kinase gene in a clinical HSV-1 isolate identifies F289S as novel acyclovir-resistant mutation
Zheng, S., Verjans, G. M. G. M., Evers, A., van den Wittenboer, E., Tjhie, J. H. T., Snoeck, R., Wiertz, E. J. H. J., Andrei, G., van Kampen, J. J. A. & Lebbink, R. J., Aug 2024, In: Antiviral Research. 228, 6 p., 105950.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile4 Downloads (Pure) -
Proinsulin degradation and presentation of a proinsulin B-chain autoantigen involves ER-associated protein degradation (ERAD)-enzyme UBE2G2
Cremer, T., Hoelen, H., van de Weijer, M. L., Janssen, G. M., Costa, A. I., van Veelen, P. A., Lebbink, R. J. & Wiertz, E. J. H. J., May 2024, In: PLoS ONE. 19, 5, e0287877.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile6 Downloads (Pure) -
Enhanced antigen cross-presentation in human colorectal cancer-associated fibroblasts through upregulation of the lysosomal protease cathepsin S
Harryvan, T. J., Visser, M., De Bruin, L., Plug, L., Griffioen, L., Mulder, A., Van Veelen, P. A., Van Der Heden Van Noort, G. J., Jongsma, M. L. M., Meeuwsen, M. H., Wiertz, E. J. H. J., Santegoets, S. J., Hardwick, J. C. H., Van Hall, T., Neefjes, J., Van Der Burg, S. H., Hawinkels, L. J. A. C. & Verdegaal, E. M. E., 9 Mar 2022, In: Journal for immunotherapy of cancer. 10, 3, e003591.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile3 Citations (Scopus)10 Downloads (Pure) -
A class II MHC-targeted vaccine elicits immunity against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants
Pishesha, N., Harmand, T. J., Rothlauf, P. W., Praest, P., Alexander, R. K., van den Doel, R., Liebeskind, M. J., Vakaki, M. A., McCaul, N., Wijne, C., Verhaar, E., Pinney, W., Heston, H., Bloyet, L.-M., Pontelli, M. C., Ilagan, M. X. G., Jan Lebbink, R., Buchser, W. J., Wiertz, E. J. H. J. & Whelan, S. P. J. & 1 others, , 2 Nov 2021, In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 118, 44, p. 1-10 e2116147118.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile154 Downloads (Pure) -
The UFM1 Pathway Impacts HCMV US2-Mediated Degradation of HLA Class I
Schuren, A. B. C., Boer, I. G. J., Bouma, E. M., Van de Weijer, M. L., Costa, A. I., Hubel, P., Pichlmair, A., Lebbink, R. J. & Wiertz, E. J. H. J., 2 Jan 2021, In: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland). 26, 2, 287.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile4 Downloads (Pure)
Prizes
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H2020-MSCA-ITN-2015 Consortium Project EDGE (675278)
Wiertz, E. (Recipient), 2015
Prize: Fellowship awarded competitively