Andre Boonstra

André Boonstra received his PhD at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam in 2000. His postdoctoral training as an immunologist on infectious diseases was at the DNAX Research Institute (Palo Alto, USA) and the National Institute for Medical Research Mill Hill (London, UK). 

Since 2006, he is heading the viral hepatitis research group at the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology of the Erasmus MC, and currently holds the position of Full Professor. His research group is devoted to better understand the factors that determine viral persistence, disease progression and treatment outcome in patients with hepatitis B or C, including the evaluation of novel antiviral compounds in phase I/II trials. Besides this, a major effort of his work focusses on novel biomarkers to predict the development of fibrosis and liver cancer in patients at risk. These translational studies make extensive use of state-of-the-art immunological methods as well as innovative systems biology approaches, such as single cell RNA sequencing.

Dr. Boonstra’s activities are characterized by active participation in numerous national and international consortia. He is also initiator and coordinator of the EU-funded Horizon2020 grant ESCALON (www.escalon.eu) aimed at improving early detection and diagnosis of liver cancer. The ESCALON consortium consists of members from 11 countries, and enables him to conduct long-lasting collaborative studies with partners in Chile, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Brazil and Ecuador.