Niels Bovenschen studied Medical Biology at the Free University in Amsterdam and he obtained his PhD in 2003 at Sanquin Research (Amsterdam). In 2004, he moved to the department of Pathology at the University Medical Center Utrecht (UMC Utrecht), where he was appointed Associate Professor in 2012. His research group now focuses on the effector immune response in eliminating tumor cells and virus-infected cells. He is in charge of the UMC Utrecht Pathology Research Laboratory and head of the Laboratory of Translational Immunology core facility Proteins. Niels was appointed as Senior Fellow in 2017 and as Principal Fellow in 2020 at Utrecht University. His mission is to engage undergraduate students in science by creating synergy between education, scientific research, and healthcare already at the early undergraduate level. He is examiner and coordinator of several (bio)medical educational programs and courses at the faculty of Medicine, Utrecht University. In 2019, Niels Bovenschen won the Outstanding Teacher Award of Utrecht University.