Cum laude PhD defense Arjan van Laarhoven

28 May 2018

Friday 25 May 2018, Arjan van Laarhoven, internist in training, has defended his thesis ‘Host response in relation to tuberculosis susceptibility, transmission and outcome’.

Arjan has combined immunology, molecular epidemiology, genetics, metabolomics and patient studies, working in the laboratory of experimental internal medicine in Nijmegen and in Indonesia. One of the highlights of his thesis was his study on the importance of cerebral tryptophan metabolism for mortality of the most severe manifestation of tuberculosis, meningitis (published in Lancet Infectious Diseases this year).  

Arjan’s work, supervised by Reinout van Crevel and Mihai Netea, nicely fits with the longstanding interest in tuberculosis and innate host defence in the department of internal medicine, and with the longstanding collaboration between Radboudumc and Padjadjaran University in Bandung, Indonesia.

Based on his excellent thesis and performance during the defense, the doctorate was awarded with the distinction 'cum laude'.