iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Emma Houlder

@emmahoulder.bsky.social

54 followers 62 following 10 posts

Researcher at LUMC. Immunology, schistosomiasis, vaccines.

Posts Replies Media

Emma Houlder @emmahoulder.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

Thanks of course to all my co-authors (Uganda, Netherlands and UK) and funders!!!!!!!

020

Emma Houlder @emmahoulder.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

In schistosome 🪱-endemic areas, people are repeatedly reinfected — but we still don’t fully understand how T cell responses develop in these cycles. In my first ever last-author paper (😱) we investigate this, comparing endemic and repeat controlled human schistosome infection: rdcu.be/exH58

rdcu.be

T cell responses in repeated controlled human schistosome infection compared to natural exposure

Nature Communications - In schistosomiasis-endemic regions, the cyclical nature of infection and treatment complicates understanding of host immune responses. Repeated controlled human Schistosoma...

143

Emma Houlder @emmahoulder.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

[6/7] Thanks to co-authors Lucas Ferreira da Silva, Angela van Diepen, Murilo Sena Amaral, R. Alan Wilson, Cornelis Hokke, Meta Roestenberg & Wilfried Bakker, and to the wider #WORMVACS group.

000

Emma Houlder @emmahoulder.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

5/7] We also built an open, searchable database with all results: 🧪 wormvaccines.nl The idea is to keep it updated with new studies and make the field easier to navigate for anyone working on schisto vaccines.

wormvaccines.nl

Pre-clinical S.mansoni vaccine dashboard

100

Emma Houlder @emmahoulder.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

[4/7] To address that, we pulled out common parameters that influence outcomes and proposed recommendations for future pre-clinical study design.

100

Emma Houlder @emmahoulder.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

[3/7] One major issue: huge variation in vaccine formulation and study design. Different adjuvants, challenge doses, timing, and endpoints make it hard to compare studies—or know whether a low result is due to the antigen or the setup.

110

Emma Houlder @emmahoulder.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

[2/7] A few candidates—like Smp-80 and Cathepsin B—stood out, with >90% protection in some studies. But the median efficacy across all candidates was around 35%.

100

Emma Houlder @emmahoulder.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

[1/7] How close are we to a schistosomiasis vaccine? With help from an #MSCA fellowship and support from Batavia Biosciences, I spent 6 months reviewing 100+ pre-clinical studies on S. mansoni vaccines. Here's what we found: 📄 doi.org/10.1371/jour...

doi.org

Pre-clinical studies of Schistosoma mansoni vaccines: A scoping review

Author summary Schistosomiasis, a major neglected tropical disease, is caused by infection with parasitic worms of the Schistosoma species, including Schistosoma mansoni. Individuals can be repeatedly...

131

Emma Houlder @emmahoulder.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

Huge thanks to all! @emerhickey.bsky.social @profandrewmac.bsky.social @darrenthomson.bsky.social @billhorsnell.bsky.social and all others without bluesky!!!!

020

Emma Houlder @emmahoulder.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

FIRST POST! Fungi drive asthma, but does this require germination? We show A. fumigatus spores activate DCs after 3hrs of swelling, promoting airway allergy. Antifungal itraconazole limits swelling & reduces allergic inflammation. Check it out: doi.org/10.1016/j.ja... @drpetercook.bsky.social 👩‍🔬

Airways, inflamed on left after 4hr spores and less inflamed on right with 4hr spores and itraconazole treatment.

1164

Reposted by Emma Houlder

Peter Cook @drpetercook.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

First 🦋 post (great to join everyone here) about our paper that's been published in JACI: www.jacionline.org/article/S009... Check it out if you have ever wondered how fungal spore growth controls how dendritic cells (clearly THE best immune cell) trigger inflammation that causes asthma...

jacionline.org

DEFINE_ME

44015