People

Jeroen’s  background: Since he was a little boy he has always been interested in animals/nature and he was always attracted to the water. It was no surprise that he decided to study Biology and finished his BSc cum laude at Utrecht University, The Netherlands in 2005. However, his interest shifted towards the molecular cell biology and he continued his education with a MSc in Biomolecular Sciences (graduated cum laude in 2007) at Utrecht University. In the following 2.5 years, he worked as a pre-doctoral research fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston, United States of America on the development of stem cell-based brain cancer therapies. But after spending so many years being locked up in the lab, he wanted to do something more exciting and in the field where his heart truly lies: Marine Biology.  In 2010 he took up a scholarship at James Cook University, where he completed his PhD under the supervision of  Bette Willis and Bill Leggat from JCU, and Madeleine van Oppen and David Bourne from AIMS. His research focused on the immune system of scleractinian corals and the effect that environmental and physiological factors have on the ability of corals to fight disease. Thesis title: Molecular mechanisms of immunity in scleractinian corals and the influence of environmental factors on coral immuno-competence.