Ilze Bot obtained her PhD on “Modulation of Atherothrombotic Factors: Novel Strategies for Plaque Stabilization” under supervision of Prof. Dr. E.A.L. Biessen and Prof. Dr. Th. J.C. van Berkel in 2005. In March 2008, she started working as a Post-doctoral researcher on mast cells and atherosclerosis (VENI grant “Cardiovascular Diseases: A Central Role for Mast Cells?”) at the division of Biopharmaceutics of the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research. Since then, she expanded her research line on mast cells in cardiovascular diseases by obtaining two research grants from the Dutch Heart Foundation to investigate the contribution of the mast cell to stress-induced acute cardiovascular syndromes, and effects of mast cell activation in vein graft disease. In 2012, she was awarded a Dr. E. Dekker senior Postdoc grant from the Dutch Heart Foundation to determine how mast cells can be activated during hypercholesterolemia. In December 2019, Ilze received the Established Investigator grant from the Dutch Heart Foundation for her project "Mast cells as effectors in advanced atherosclerosis". She focusses her research on mast cell recruitment and activation pathways and on the characterization of mast cells phenotypes in atherosclerosis. In addition, she coordinates the ERA4Health CARDINNOV program “MASTer”, in which she investigates the contribution of mast cells to intraplaque hemorrhage, a hallmark of unstable atherosclerosis. She has published her research in high impact journal such as Circulation, Circulation Research, Nature Cardiovascular Research and Annals of Surgery, and frequently invited to give lectures at international conferences. Ilze is editor of the European Journal of Pharmacology, and editorial board member of Vascular Pharmacology and of the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.As of March 1st 2024, Ilze is appointed as full professor in Cardiovascular Pharmacology at Leiden University. She will continue her work elucidating the underlying mechanisms of atherosclerotic plaque destabilization at the division of BioTherapeutics of the Leiden  Academic Centre for Drug Research.