On Thursday, November 24, Arjan van Laarhoven received the Robert Sauerwein medal. The medal is awarded every two years to a young researcher who is affiliated with a Dutch university or UMC and who has made a major contribution to research into tropical infectious diseases. The prize is awarded for the second time and consists of a bronze medal and a cash prize of €500.
Van Laarhoven conducts laboratory research in which he looks at the relationship between the body’s innate immune responses and the transmission of tuberculosis. He also studies how the disease develops. He has identified genotypic markers in the tuberculosis bacterium that are related to the transmission of tuberculosis. He has also shown that cerebral tryptophan metabolism is an important marker for the risk of mortality from meningitis due to tuberculosis. Van Laarhoven has completed his thesis ‘Host response in relation to tuberculosis susceptibility, transmission and outcome‘ (cum laude) in May 2018 and, in addition to his PhD research, also completed his training as an internist-infectiologist.
During his research he has collaborated with researchers from many different countries and backgrounds. He also worked for a long time in Bandung (Indonesia) for his research. There he set up methods in the laboratory to conduct detailed research into the white blood cells in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid of patients with meningitis due to tuberculosis. In addition to his innovative and relevant research, the selection panel for the Robert Sauerwein medal particularly praised him for how he trains and involves local researchers in his research.