Els Goulmy
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Els Goulmy (born 27 November 1946, The Hague) is an eminent professor of transplantation biology, especially regarding minor histocompatibility antigen, at Leiden University.[1] Goulmy is an expert in the area of tissue typing and belongs internationally to the absolute top of her discipline. She was awarded the Spinoza Prize in 2002.[2]
Goulmy did groundbreaking research on the role of antigens in organ and stem cell transplantation. She is the pioneer of the so-called Minor Transplantation Antigens in men. Minor antigens can induce strong immune reactions. She discovered the H-Y minor antigen encoded by the Y-chromosome (1976) and the autosomally encoded HA-1 antigen (1983). She then described the polymorphism and the population frequencies of several autosomal minor antigens. Crucial was her work on the differential expression of minor antigens showing either overall expression on all body cells, such as the male specific H-Y antigens, or restricted expression on solely blood and blood cancer cells, such as HA-1. Goulmy was the first to describe the chemical structure of the human minor antigens (1995). In 1996 she demonstrated the crucial role of minor antigens in the outcome of organ and stem cell transplantation. In 1997 she launched new concepts for immunotherapy of blood cancer applying the blood and cancer cell specific minor antigens, such as HA-1, for tumor specific treatment. The basis for the translation ‘from the lab to the clinic’ of these cancer and patient specific treatment was laid in her laboratory. Hereby minor antigens, such as HA-1, are used as ‘vaccin’ to boost the anti-blood cancer reaction in the patients' body.
