Virgil Dalm

Virgil Dalm (1978) obtained a PhD-degree in 2003, based on his thesis entitled: Somatostatin receptors and their ligands in the human immune system. It was during this research project that his interest in clinical immunology grew and after obtaining his medical degree in 2005, he specialized in Internal Medicine and Clinical Immunology (2011). Since 2011 he is a staff member of the department of internal medicine, division of clinical immunology and the department of immunology of the Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He is responsible for clinical care for adult patients with primary and secondary immunodeficiency disorders. Research focusses on determining non-infectious complications in primary immunodeficiencies, including skin, endocrine and psychiatric disorders, showing that also non-immunological features are part of primary immunodeficiencies. Moreover, primary immunodeficiencies as part of syndromic disorders including Jacobsen syndrome and Netherton syndrome have been identified and current area of interest includes identifying novel genetic defects leading to primary immunodeficiencies, which might be candidates for gene-targeted therapy in patients. Several new genetic defects have been identified and are under current evaluation. This has resulted in clinical introduction of novel therapeutic options.