Research
Dr. Laura S. van Dam is a physician-scientist trained in both biomedical research and internal medicine, working to close the gap between bench and bedside through translational research. Her focus is to uncover the mechanisms underlying autoimmune disease and translate these insights into therapies that target autoimmunity. Her Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellowship spans a global phase at the Robinson Lab (2023–2026) and a return phase at Leiden University Medical Center (2027–2028), where she investigates the molecular mechanisms driving ANCA-associated vasculitis. She is particularly interested in identifying microbial triggers and molecular mimicry in this disease, characterizing the nasal microbiome and sequencing T cells and B cells from affected patients.
She leads the LuVaCs research theme on B cells and antibodies. Her work has identified ANCA-specific B cells in ANCA-associated vasculitis, and future studies will further characterize the role of dysregulated, autoreactive B cells and autoantibodies in the disease’s pathophysiology.
Curriculum vitae
Dr. Laura S. van Dam is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow in Immunology and Rheumatology, currently based in the Robinson Lab in the Department of Medicine at Stanford University, California, USA (2023–2026). She completed two years of the internal medicine residency program at Leiden University Medical Center (2021–2023) before pausing it to pursue this postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford. She earned her PhD, “Targeting Autoimmunity in Renal Diseases: Focus on Neutrophil Extracellular Traps and Autoreactive B Cells,” in 2022 at Leiden University Medical Center, studying the role of neutrophil extracellular traps and autoreactive B cells in renal autoimmune diseases, including SLE and ANCA-associated vasculitis, under the mentorship of Prof. Y.K.O. Teng, Prof. C. van Kooten, and Prof. T. Rabelink. She holds a master’s degree in Medicine and Clinical Research from Utrecht University, completed through the Selective Utrecht Medical Master (SUMMA) program, after graduating with honors and cum laude from a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Amsterdam.