VUB researcher receives honorary title of Commander in the Order of the Crown
Today, on the national holiday, King Philippe awards the honorary title of Commander in the Order of the Crown to VUB researcher Damya Laoui for her groundbreaking research into a vaccine against cancer.
Damya Laoui works at the VUB campus in Elsene and is internationally renowned for her research into immunotherapies that strengthen the immune system of patients to fight cancer cells. This approach has already earned her numerous awards, including the title of ‘Innovator under 35 Europe’ by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the nomination as the greatest scientific talent of the Low Countries by New Scientist.The research led to promising breakthroughs in immunology. Cancer cells can corrupt other blood cells in a tumor, causing white blood cells to ‘spill over’ to the cancer, for example, and suppress the other white blood cells. Previously, it was thought that all cells in a tumor were corrupt, including the dendritic cells. These cells recognize the cancer cells and activate the immune system. Laoui showed that there are two types of dendritic cells that do not become corrupt. This discovery forms the basis for a potential vaccine, in which these cells are isolated after the doctor removes the tumor, in order to detect metastases and, if necessary, activate the immune system.
