15353-j-veluchamy

7 Acknowledgements | 173 Acknowledgements In my journey, from Oddanchatram to Vellore, to Örebro, to London, to Amsterdam to Oss, I am blessed to have come across many people who played a very important role in what I am today. First, I thank God almighty, who has led me in unimaginable, wonderful and miraculous ways, thus far. He is a God who keeps his promises and will deliver in his time, Amen. His Mercy was with me, throughout this study, and I feel his guidance in every walk of my life. With great appreciation, I would like to sincerely thank Tanja, Henk, Hans and Jan for giving me this excellent opportunity to do PhD under their guidance. I have learned a lot from you in these years. Thank you for the thoughtful guidance, insightful discussions, and critically reviewing the thesis. Without your help and constant support, it would have been impossible to finish the thesis successfully. Thank you so much for your encouraging words, and I was gifted to have the world’s most accessible promoters, always available when I needed them. Besides studies, the love and concern you showed on my family is also something I appreciate very much at this moment. Tanja you were always welcoming me, to discuss any issues however busy you were, constantly checking on my workload and reminding us to enjoy life, you were more than a promoter to me. Your advice on both research as well as my career have been invaluable. Hans, what a joy it was to work with you. Not to forget the journey carrying NK cells, driving from Amsterdam-Oss-Paris, circling the Arc de triomphe, en route to Institut Pasteur. Your passion for research has motivated me in many ways. Jan, thank you for your excellent brewing skills and for your patience, which you carefully applied in crafting this Indian boy, you spent almost every day while travelling back home on the phone with me, discussing NK cells and NK cells and NK cells, trying to perfect me as one of your finely crafted beer, today I enjoy the great taste of it. I would like to extend my special thanks to the eminent scientists, who kindly consented to be part of the thesis committee. Thank you so much Ulrike, Ofer, Marjolein, Tuna, Harry and Katje for your encouragement and for critically reviewing the thesis. Department of Medical Oncology and Tumor immunotherapy laboratory with its fully equipped state of the art facilities at Cancer Center Amsterdam was an excellent place to do research. At this moment, I would like to specially thank Anita and Sinead, always willing to help. You were a great support to me in sharing critical tips and helping with experiments in the lab. There are two special people in my PhD office, whose support during the PhD journey was very important to me. Marijne and Roeland, thanks a lot for your constant words of encouragement. You were there by my side to tell me never give up and keep going. I treasure your friendship. My sincere thanks to Marijne and Katje for the for the excellent collaboration in the cervical cancer project, leading to a joint publication highlighting the need for NK cell immunotherapy in cervical tumors (chapter 3). I would also