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Nienke Van Houten
Senior Lecturer Director, Undergraduate Programs
Nienke Van Houten
Senior Lecturer, Director, Undergraduate Programs
- nvanhout@sfu.ca
- 1 778 782-9065
- BLU 9702
Areas of interest
Microbiology, immunology & vaccine design, infectious disease, host/pathogen interaction
Education
- PhD, Molecular Immunology and Vaccine Design, Simon Fraser University
- BSc (honours), Biology, University of Waterloo
Biography
Dr. van Houten received her BSc (Hons) in microbiology from the University of Waterloo. She completed her PhD at the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at Simon Fraser University, specializing in molecular immunology and vaccine design. Her research focused on developing strategies for producing epitope-targeting vaccines and exploring the use of engineered filamentous phage as vaccine carriers. After completing her PhD, Dr. van Houten conducted postdoctoral research in the SFU Faculty of Health Sciences, during which she investigated the use of Hepatitis E virus-like particles as carriers for mucosal vaccines using reovirus and influenza infection models. She joined SFU Health Sciences as a lecturer in August 2010.
Teaching interests
Dr. van Houten is passionate about understanding the function of the human body especially in the context of immunology and infectious disease. She teaches a broad range of subjects including human biology, microbiology, virology, immunology and host/pathogen interaction.
Faculty Teaching Fellow
Dr. van Houten is interested in professional development related to teaching and learning, and providing support to her colleagues at SFU Health Sciences. In partnership with the Faculty's educational consultant, Barb Berry, she hosted the SFU Health Sciences Teaching and Learning Conversation Series, and Technology Talks and maintained a blog on teaching resources. In 2012, Dr. van Houten took on the role of Faculty Teaching Fellow (FTF) where she works with an educational consultant, SFU Teaching and Learning Center, Faculty administration and various committees.The responsibilities of the FTF includes advancing and supporting ongoing teaching and learning activities in the Faculty by:
- Fostering an engaged and sustained scholarly teaching and learning community in FHS
- Enhancing graduate level program development and renewal
- Facilitating undergraduate level program development and renewal
- Consulting with and support innovative course and/or curriculum design and/or redesign projects that enhance teaching and learning in FHS
In this role, Dr. van Houten has hosted two SFU Health Sciences teaching and learning celebrations, developed a workshop on plagiarism in faculty council, worked with instructors to introduce active learning into courses, promoted funding opportunities through the Teaching and Learning Development Grant program and worked on establishing a core community interested in scholarly inquiry. She has also hosted speakers on teaching and learning including Gary Poole from UBC, and developed guidelines for the semester prep guide.
Instructional Skills Workshop facilitator
Dr. van Houten is interested in professional development related to teaching and learning, and providing support to her colleagues at SFU Health Sciences. In partnership with the Faculty's educational consultant, Barb Berry, she hosted the SFU Health Sciences Teaching and Learning Conversation Series, and Technology Talks and maintained a blog on teaching resources. In 2012, Dr. van Houten took on the role of Faculty Teaching Fellow (FTF) where she works with an educational consultant, SFU Teaching and Learning Center, Faculty administration and various committees.The responsibilities of the FTF includes advancing and supporting ongoing teaching and learning activities in the Faculty by:
- Fostering an engaged and sustained scholarly teaching and learning community in FHS
- Enhancing graduate level program development and renewal
- Facilitating undergraduate level program development and renewal
- Consulting with and support innovative course and/or curriculum design and/or redesign projects that enhance teaching and learning in FHS.
In this role, Dr. van Houten has hosted two SFU Health Sciences teaching and learning celebrations, developed a workshop on plagiarism in faculty council, worked with instructors to introduce active learning into courses, promoted funding opportunities through the Teaching and Learning Development Grant program and worked on establishing a core community interested in scholarly inquiry. She has also hosted speakers on teaching and learning including Gary Poole from UBC, and developed guidelines for the semester prep guide.
Courses
Spring 2025
Future courses may be subject to change.
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