Emma Boes
Doctoral fellow – Laboratory of Tom Taghon (Department of Diagnostic Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, UGent)
Principal investigator: prof. Tom Taghon (PhD)
Research focus
T cell differentiation occurs in the thymus, where hematopoietic progenitors from the bone marrow undergo a tightly regulated maturation process to form a diverse and self-tolerant T cell repertoire. My PhD project aims to investigate how oxygen availability in the thymus influences T cell development, with a particular focus on the molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways activated under hypoxic conditions. To address this, advanced techniques such as proteomics, transcriptomics and immunofluorescence imaging are used.
Insights from this project are expected to inform protocols for in vitro T cell production, with direct implications for improving T cell-based immunotherapies such as CAR-T and T-lymphoid progenitor therapies. By bridging developmental immunology and translational research, this work contributes to the broader goal of enhancing the precision and efficacy of next-generation cancer treatments.
Contact & links
- Lab address: Taghon Lab, Medical Research Building 2 (MRB2) (entrance 38), Campus UZ Gent, Corneel Heymanslaan 10, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
- Taghon Lab
- Emma Boes is interested to receive invitations for presentations or talks