Mirjam Koster MSc

Former education: BSc. in Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences cum laude by Leiden University (2018), MSc. in Molecular Medicine & Innovative Treatment cum laude by the University of Groningen (2020).

Research group: Molecular Neurobiology, BSCS

Promotors: Bart Eggen & Wia Baron

Co-promotor: Susanne Kooistra

Project: Delineating cellular heterogeneity and cell-cell interactions in lesion development and progression of multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system (CNS). The pathophysiology of MS is highly heterogeneous with regard to the progression of the disease, the localisations of the lesions and the involved cell types. Both CNS-resident cells – including microglia, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and neurons – and infiltrating immune cells participate and interact in MS pathology. Recently, single-cell transcriptomic studies have provided insight into the heterogeneity of cell populations in MS. However, current data inherently lacks the spatial information to link the cellular heterogeneity to the CNS pathology of MS. In my project, I aim to delineate cellular heterogeneity and cell-cell interactions in MS lesion development and progression.

Funding: Graduate School of Medical Sciences (RUG/UMCG)

RUG website: https://www.rug.nl/staff/mirjam.koster/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mirjamkoster/

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mirjam_Koster2