Member of Parliament Wimar Bolhuis visits BPRC
Member of Parliament Wimar Bolhuis of the party Progressief Nederland visited BPRC last Wednesday, 8 July. For us, it was an especially meaningful visit, following last Friday's letter to Parliament in which Minister of Education, Culture and Science Rianne Letschert emphasized how important our work is.
During his visit, Wimar was given an insight into the daily practice at BPRC. Director Merel Langelaar spoke about BPRC's contribution to national and international resilience against infectious diseases, including pandemic preparedness, and several researchers spoke enthusiastically about their work.
Head of the Department of Neurobiology and Aging Jinte Middeldorp gave Wimar a look inside our brain bank, where brain tissue is stored. She explained that this brain tissue is used for research into brain aging and diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. “With tissue from our biobank, we can carry out a great deal of research and the tissues serve as controls for monkeys in studies, allowing us to reduce the number of monkeys in studies. With this unique collection, we have many international collaborations.” In this way, we work together to ensure that as few monkeys as possible are needed for research and that every animal is used as effectively as possible.
Annemarie Voorberg introduced Wimar to malaria research. “Malaria still claims many lives worldwide, with children in particular often dying from the disease. That makes it important for us to continue conducting research at BPRC.” Using the complex life cycle of the malaria parasite, she showed how carefully developed monkey models help us better understand processes in the immune system. The possible impact of climate change on the spread of mosquito-borne infectious diseases was also discussed.
During the tour, Wimar was given an insight into the housing and care of the animals. Colony manager Annet Louwerse spoke about animal welfare, social group structures, daily (veterinary) care, and the careful ethical considerations that precede every study.
Finally, imaging specialist Marieke Stammes demonstrated the capabilities of the PET-CT. This imaging technique is used, among other things, in Long COVID studies, for example to better understand what happens in the body after an infection. The PET-CT is also used to further investigate the possible relationship between a previous COVID infection and the development of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease.
The visit provided an excellent opportunity to show how we at BPRC work towards our goal: responsible biomedical research for global health.
