Senior researcher
dr. Annie Yang
Research
I focus on the understanding the interaction between microbes (mostly Plasmodium falciparum i.e. the causative agent of malaria) with liver cells (hepatocytes). My work uses primary human hepatocytes isolated from healthy leftover segments of liver surgeries (anonymously donated). After isolation and in vitro culturing, these liver cells are exposed to the malaria parasite to understand parasite development within these host cells but also to investigate (e.g. defense-related) responses from the host to the microbe.
Curriculum Vitae
I obtained my PhD at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and the University of Melbourne in Australia. I was supervised by Dr. Justin Boddey (primary) and Professor Alan Cowman (secondary) where I investigated the molecular mechanism of traversal (transmigration through cells) by Plasmodium falciparum.
After my PhD (2017-2023), I joined the team led by (now Emeritus) Professor Robert Sauerwein where I was tasked to set up a ready-to-use human hepatocyte pipeline for understanding malaria parasite liver stage biology and testing novel therapeutic interventions (e.g. compounds or antibodies against parasite proteins). In 2019, I was awarded my Veni (ENW) titled “The secret lives of parasites in hepatocytes during malaria infection”. In 2021, I was awarded a ZonMw Off-Road to examine “a novel malaria vaccine strategy using programmed suicide of Plasmodium falciparum parasites”.
At the completion of the Veni and Off-Road (Dec 2023), I moved to the LUMC to the group of Professor Meta Roestenberg. I re-established the host hepatocyte pipeline at the LUMC but also expanded it to include the study of hepatocyte biology (in health and disease) and response to other pathogens. In 2025, I was awarded my VIDI (ZonMw) titled “Imprints of Plasmodium falciparum on the liver: decoding host responses to malaria”.
Publications
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Inhibition of Wnt signaling in primary human hepatocytes promotes Plasmodium falciparum liver stage development.
Kanyal, A., G. J. van Gemert, H. Wu, A. van der Starre, J. H. W. de Wilt, T. Bousema, R. W. Sauerwein, R. Bartfai and A. S. P. Yang (2025).
PLoS Pathog 21(12): e1013800.
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Development of Plasmodium falciparum liver-stages in hepatocytes derived from human fetal liver organoid cultures.
Yang, A. S. P., D. Dutta, K. Kretzschmar, D. Hendriks, J. Puschhof, H. Hu, K. E. Boonekamp, Y. van Waardenburg, S. M. Chuva de Sousa Lopes, G. J. van Gemert, J. H. W. de Wilt, T. Bousema, H. Clevers and R. W. Sauerwein (2023).
Nat Commun 14(1): 4631.
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Zonal human hepatocytes are differentially permissive to Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites.
Yang, A. S. P., Y. M. van Waardenburg, M. van de Vegte-Bolmer, G. A. van Gemert, W. Graumans, J. H. W. de Wilt and R. W. Sauerwein (2021).
EMBO J 40(6): e106583.
Groups:
Translational Parasitology
