PhD Defense – Exploring neural models for human cytomegalovirus infection studies

On January 7th 2026, Lance Mulder, PhD candidate at the OrganoVIR Labs in Amsterdam UMC, will be defending the thesis: ‘Exploring neural models for human cytomegalovirus infection studies’.

Lance’s thesis explores the use of clinical CMV isolates in the validation of antiviral effects against CMV infection of human CNS models in the context of cCMV disease. The thesis elucidates the use of advanced human neuronal models in CMV research and proposes the application of these organoids in the testing of novel antiviral drugs.

Supervisors are Prof. Dasja Pajkrt and Prof. Hans (J.B.) van Goudoever. The co-supervisors are Dr. Katja Wolthers and Dr. Adithya Sridhar.

The defense will take place on January 7th, 2026 at 13:00. The location of the defense is Agnietenkapel, Oudezijds Voorburgwal 229 – 231, Amsterdam.

A digitized version of this thesis can be accessed here.