prof. dr. Carl Figdor

About Carl Figdor

Carl Figdor is senior professor in Experimental Immunology (in particular Tumor Immunology) and head of the Tumor Immunology Department. Until 2010 he was the scientific director of the NCMLS (now RIMLS).

Research interests include immunology and cell biology, with a specific focus on the molecular mechanisms controlling antigen presenting cells, in particular dendritic cells. Major current projects include an investigation of the role of lectin-like receptors in antigen uptake and the role of the cytoskeleton in dendritic cell adhesion and migration. The use of high resolution single cell imaging tools to achieve greater insights into the topography of cell surface receptors and the advancement of translational medicine through the treatment of cancer patients using antigen loaded dentritic cell vaccines are among his current fascinations as an immunologist.

Carl Figdor obtained his Masters degree in 1979 from the University of Utrecht and his PhD degree in 1982 from the University of Amsterdam working at the Netherlands cancer Institute, where he got tenured in 1985 and started his own research group on tumor immunology. In 1992 Carl Figdor became professor in Cell Biophysics at the University of Twente (until 2009), and in 1994 he moved to the UMC st Radboud to start a new department on Tumor Immunology as a professor in immunology. Here he initiated a large translational program exploiting the immune system to fight cancer. From  2001 - 2010 he served as the first scientific director of the Nijmegen Centre for Molecular Life Sciences (NCMLS), in which also his department is located. Carl Figdor has been a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences since 2008 and is the recipient of several awards, including the Dutch van Loghum award for Immunology in 1999, the Dutch Spinoza Award in 2006, and the KWO award from the Dutch Cancer Society in 2009. He obtained an ERC Advanced Investigator grant in 2011.

Personal prizes & awards

• 2016: TEFAF oncology chair
• 2015: EU 2020 grant, PRECIOUS (8,3 M€)
• 2013: NWO Gravity program grant: The Institute for Chemical Immunology (ICI)
• 2012: Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion
• 2011: Member of the Academia Europaea
• 2010: ERC Advanced Grant (1.5 M€)
• 2009: Dutch Cancer Foundation research award (2 M€) for outstanding translational cancer research
• 2008: Member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
• 2006: Spinoza Award (NWO, for 'groundbreaking research into the use of immune cells against cancer and for how he translates fundamental research into patient care' (1.5 M€ for research)
• 2000: Eijkman Medal, Utrecht. This is an oeuvre award in the field of immunology, awarded for significant contributions to the field
• 1999: Van Loghem Award, Dutch Society of Immunology

Additional Functions

• member KNAW
• member Oncode Institute
• board member SFN foundation Netherlands Cancer Institute
• co-founder Simmunext