The overall goal of our research is to understand the reciprocal interactions between breast cancer and the immune system and how these interactions influence disease progression. To address this, we use preclinical mouse models that faithfully recapitulate human breast tumorigenesis, combined with immune profiling of breast cancer patients. The composition and functional state of the tumor microenvironment (TME) can vary markedly between patients, even within the same cancer type. Understanding the mechanisms that drive inter-patient heterogeneity in local and systemic immunity may enable the design of tailored immunomodulatory therapies. In my lab, we have a special interest in studying how the genetic make-up of breast cancer influences the local and systemic immune landscape, impacting metastatic spread and immunotherapy response. Using unique transgenic mouse tumor models, we observed striking differences in TME composition and systemic immune alterations between tumors with distinct genetic drivers. As a consequence, mammary tumors driven by different genetic alterations require distinct immunomodulatory strategies to unleash anti-tumor immunity. Ultimately, our research aims to provide a mechanistic basis for tailoring immunomodulatory approaches to the genetic profile of the tumor.

Karin de Visser is group leader in the Division of Tumor Biology & Immunology at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) in Amsterdam and Oncode Institute, and a full professor of Experimental Immunobiology of Cancer at Leiden University Medical Center. She obtained her PhD in 2002 at the NKI in the field of cancer immunotherapy - well before immunotherapy transformed cancer patient care. During her postdoctoral research with Prof. Lisa Coussens at UCSF (2003-2005), she expanded her expertise into the field of inflammation and cancer. In 2005, she returned to the NKI and joined the lab of Prof. Jos Jonkers to gain experience with conditional mouse models of breast cancer before establishing her own research group. Her lab investigates how the immune system influences breast cancer metastasis and therapy response. Her most recognized work has revealed how tumor-induced systemic inflammation drives neutrophil-dependent immunosuppression and promotes metastasis. By integrating tumor immunology and cancer genetics, her team demonstrated that the genetic make-up of breast cancer shapes the immune landscape. In collaboration with Dr. Marleen Kok, her team also uncovered a critical role for eosinophils in immunotherapy response of breast cancer. Karin de Visser received an ERC consolidator grant (2014), the Metastasis Research Prize of the Beug Foundation (2015), an NWO-VICI grant (2019), the Pezcoller-Marina Larcher Fogazzaro-EACR Women in Cancer Research Award (2025), the Josephine Nefkens Award (2025), and was elected EMBO young investigator (2016) and EMBO member (2021). She co-leads the Immunotherapy research theme at the NKI.