Liselotte Mackens

Short overview of the academic career: 

- 2019: Msc. In Biomedical Sciences, specialization Immunity and Infection (UGent)

- 2019-2020: Gained valuable research experience at the lab of prof. Bertrand (VIB-IRC Ghent) 

- August 2020: PhD student & teaching assistant at NAVI (VUB) 

The cystine/glutamate antiporter system x_c^- (with xCT as specific subunit) is mainly expressed in the central nervous system (CNS) and cells of the peripheral immune system. Dysregulation of the aging immune system is associated with immune senescence and inflammaging, both of which contribute to a higher susceptibility to infections, chronic tissue inflammation as well as many age-related impairments. 

The purpose of my research project is to investigate the influence of system x_c^- - deficiency on aging CD4⁺ T-cells.