Eric Spierings had his first HLA experiences in 1992, while performing PCR-SSOP as a student for an HLA and Disease Association project under supervision of Prof. Dr. Marius Giphart at the Department of Immunohaematology and Blood Transfusion of the Leiden University Medical Center. After a PhD in the same department with focus on antigen presentation and T-cell recognition, he performed his postdoctoral training on minor H antigens in organ- and stem-cell transplantation in the laboratory of Prof. Dr. Els Goulmy, Leiden, the Netherlands, with emphasis on the identification of minor H antigens, their immunogenicity, and population genetics. During these years, he actively participated in the minor H antigen component of the 14th International Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Workshop and co-organized the minor H component of the 14th and 15th IHIWS. Moreover, he is a member of the HCT component and participated in NGS activities of the 17th workshop. These participations stimulated his international activities and boosted his histocompatibility and immunogenetics network.

Since 2008, Eric operates as lab director of the HLA laboratory of the University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands. In this position, he combines diagnostic histocompatibility testing with research and teaching. His current scientific interest focusses on the role of indirect recognition of mismatched HLA in transplantation and on post-transplant immune monitoring via Next Generation Sequencing of T- and B-cell receptors and immunoglobulins. He is (co-)author on more than 70 publications in national and international scientific journals.

In the past years, Eric has participated in the organization of various symposia and conferences, including the EFI conference 2013 in Maastricht (secretary). He is an active member of the HLA Working Party the Netherlands (HLA-WN) and co-initiator of the HLA committee within the Haemato Oncology Foundation for Adults in the Netherlands (Hovon).