Elize graduated from Radboud University/RadboudUMC with a master's degree in Biomedical Sciences, specializing in tumor immunology. After graduating, she joined the den Boer group at the Princess Máxima Center in September 2024.
Her research focuses on elucidating immune suppressive factors in the bone marrow of children with B-cell precursor leukemia (BCP-ALL). Specifically, she studies the interaction between leukemia cells, supportive tissues and healthy immune cells in an ex vivo bone marrow model. The goal of this project is to identify potential mechanisms of immune suppression within the leukemic bone marrow microenvironment and utilize these findings to improve the efficacy of cell-based immunotherapies like BiTEs and CAR-Ts.