Henk L. Smits, PhD, a Senior Scientist joined KIT in 1994. Specialized in Molecular Biology and Infectious Diseases, his research area of interest covers the pathobiology, molecular epidemiology and control of neglected tropical infectious diseases.

Henk Smits combined a study biology at the University of Amsterdam with courses on biochemistry, biophysics and biometrics and specialized in molecular biology. By DNA directed in vitro transcription translation studies of mitochondrial DNA and immune detection he was able to demonstrate that cytochrome C oxidase is encoded on yeast mitochondrial DNA. After his study biology he joined the Medical School of the University of Utrecht where he received a PhD for his work on the etiology of pyloric ulcer, the characterization by NMR spectroscopy of mucous glycoproteins of the gastro-intestinal tract and his studies on the effects of prostaglandins on gastro-intestinal mucous production and secretion in an ex vivo rodent model. He subsequently worked for the Royal Dutch Academy of Science as a policy maker and then moved to the United States were he joined the Pathobiology group of the National Institute for Environmental Health Science at the NIH. Here, he produced several cDNA libraries and developed a molecular RNA array system for the detection of genes differentially expressed during retinoic acid controlled differentiation of basal cells of the epithelial layer of the tracheal tract. He then moved back to the Netherlands were he joined the Department of Medical Virology of the University of Amsterdam at the Academic Medical Centre to begin work on the involvement of human papillomavirus in the etiology of cervical cancer. He was one of the first to use PCR and developed the method for the detection of HPV in clinical specimens. In a joint effort with the University of Leiden the first immune epitopes of oncogenic HPVs were identified and used to demonstrate in a mouse model that full-blown HPV induced tumors complete regressed after injection of HPV triggered immune cells. This finding then paved the way for the development of effective HPV vaccines.

At KIT Biomedical Research, Henk Smits leads the “Point-of-Care Diagnostic Research Group” working on the development, evaluation and implementation of simple, rapid and affordable “point-of-care” tests for a range of pathogens as research coordinator. Field tests developed under his supervision include tests for leptospirosis, brucellosis, leprosy and typhoid fever. In addition, he is involved in field work with partners in several tropical countries and foci of activities include the improved control and management of bacterial zoonoses and food-borne infectious diseases and understanding the mechanisms through which pathogens cause disease. A recent finding was the characterization of a new flagellin gene in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi isolates from east Indonesia.

Henk Smits has contributed to over 120 publications.

Selected publications

1. Hatta M, Sultan AR, Pastoor R, Smits HL. New flagellin gene for Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi from the East Indonesian Archipelago. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2011;84(3):429-434.
2. Nöckler K, Maves R, Cepeda D, Draeger A, Mayer-Scholl A, Chacaltana J, Castañeda M, Espinosa B, Castillo R, Hall E, Al Dahouk S, Gilman RH, Cabeza F, Smits HL. Molecular epidemiology of  Brucella genotypes in patients at a major hospital in central Peru. J Clin Microbiol. 2009;47:3147-3155.
3. Laurichesse H, Gourdon F, Smits HL, Abdoel TH, Estavoyer JM, Rebika H, Pouliquen P, Catalina P, Dubray C, Beytout J. Safety and immunogenicity of subcutaneous or intramuscular administration of a monovalent inactivated vaccine against Leptospira interrogans serogroup Icterohaemorrhagiae in healthy volunteers. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2007;13:395-403.
4. Feltkamp MC, Smits HL, Vierboom MP, Minnaar RP, de Jongh BM, Drijfhout JW, ter Schegget J, Melief CJ, Kast WM. Vaccination with cytotoxic T lymphocyte epitope-containing peptide protects agains a tumor induced by human papillomavirus type 16-transformed cells. Eur J Immunol. 1993;23:2242-2249.
5. Smits HL, Floyd EE, Jetten AM. Molecular cloning of gene sequences regulated during squamous differentiation of tracheal epithelial cells and controlled by retinoic acid. Mol Cell Biol. 1987;7:4017-4023.
6. Moorman AF, Grivell LA, Lamie F, Smits HL. Identification of mitochondrial gene products by DNA-directed protein synthesis in vitro. Biochim Biophys Acta 1978;518:351-365.