Sanne Boersma

To understand how the outcome of virus–host competition is determined, it is crucial to uncover the spatiotemporal dynamics of both viral replication and host innate immune responses. This requires not only asking ‘what' events occur, but also ‘when' they unfold during infection, ‘where' they take place within and between cells, and 'how effectively' they proceed. I combine bioengineering, live-cell imaging, and systems immunology to obtain quantitative insights into these processes across multiple scales, from single molecules to multicellular environments. This multifaceted approach reveals principles that govern infection outcomes and uncovers how hosts block or viruses evade immune defenses. These insights may guide the next-generation of antiviral therapies or improved oncolytic viral treatments.

Sanne Boersma obtained her PhD at the Hubrecht Institute in the Netherlands, where she developed live-cell single-molecule RNA tools under the supervision of Prof. Marvin Tanenbaum. She briefly worked on single-cell spatial transcriptomics in the group of Prof. Xiaowei Zhuang at Harvard University, before joining the laboratory of Profs. Jen and Alon Oyler-Yaniv in the Systems Biology Department at Harvard Medical School.