Amanda C. Foks
Studies how the immune system drives atherosclerosis and how it changes with age, including how rapamycin reshapes immune cells in aged atherosclerotic mice.
Associate Professor (Universitair hoofddocent), LACDR, Leiden University
Aging and Immunity group, Division of BioTherapeutics, Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research, Leiden University (Leiden, Netherlands) ↗ ORCID0000-0002-9747-3458 ↗
Portrait: Leiden University
Amanda Foks is an associate professor in the Division of BioTherapeutics at the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (Leiden University). Her group is called Aging and Immunity, and her university page lists her work on the immune system in cardiovascular disease such as atherosclerosis.
Atherosclerosis is the build-up of fatty, inflamed plaques in artery walls. It becomes more common with age, and immune cells are part of the problem. In the 2026 Aging Cell study in the Atlas, Foks was the last author. Her team gave rapamycin, which blocks mTORC1, to aged mice that prone to atherosclerosis and looked at the immune cells in the plaques and in lymphoid tissue.
They found fewer plaque macrophages and T cells, more regulatory T cells, and fewer of the B cell types linked to autoantibodies. The authors read this as rapamycin acting as an immune rejuvenation treatment in old arteries. The work was done with colleagues in Leiden and at the Medical University of Vienna.
Milestones in the Atlas
A selection, not a full bibliography: only papers that meet the Atlas inclusion criteria.
| Year | Evidence | Study |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | A | Therapeutic Immune Reprogramming by Rapamycin Attenuates Plaque Inflammation and Lymphoid Immune Responses in Aged Atherosclerotic Mice JIN2026C Senior author of the Aging Cell study showing that rapamycin reduced plaque inflammation and shifted T and B cell populations toward a younger-looking profile in aged atherosclerotic mice. |
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