Maria Yazdanbakhsh (born 1959) is a Dutch immunologist who is Professor of Cellular Immunology of Parasitic Infections and Head of the Department of Parasitology at the Leiden University Medical Center.
Having focused on the cellular immunology of worm infections, her research considers the interaction of the human immune system with parasites.
[3] She works between her research laboratory in the Leiden University Medical Center and clinical trials across Africa and Asia.
[1] Yazdanbalhsh showed that, alongside detrimental effects, parasitic infections modify the immune system to prevent inflammatory disease.
In her studies of low and middle income countries she has shown that exposure to parasites and microorganisms overrides genetic factors.