Rene Toes, Ph.D. received his M.Sc. in 1989 (specializing in immunology and biochemistry) at the Free University in Amsterdam, and in 1996 his Ph.D (Tumor immunology) at the University of Leiden, The Netherlands. He held post-doctoral positions at Leiden University and the Leiden University Medical Center from 1996 to 1998, where he specialized on antigen-presentation and T cell-activation. In 1998 he became a fellow of the Dutch Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences and was a visiting scientist at the Dept of Cell Biology of the University in Tubingen, Germany. He now is Associate Professor at the Leiden University and head of the laboratory of Rheumatology at the Leiden University Medical Center. His main current research interest includes the Immunogenetics, Immunopathogenesis and Immunotherapy of Rheumatoid Arthritis.