Leila Akkari is a group leader at the Netherlands Cancer Institute in the Tumor Biology and Immunology department, and a Senior Member of the Oncode Institute.

Her research focuses on innate immune cell plasticity applied to the biology of cancers, using murine models of primary brain and liver cancers. Her group investigates and targets the functions of these immune cells in tumor maintenance and therapeutic resistance in order to identify therapeutic vulnerabilities to exploit. Her lab particularly focuses on tumor-associated macrophage versatile phenotypes and functions. She has been awarded several recognitions and awards, such as The Dutch Cancer Society Young Investigator Award (2018), selection to the EMBO Young Investigatory program, an ERC SYNergy grant from the European Union (2023), and the Ammodo Award for Fundamental research (2025). Moreover, she is involved in science communication advocating for diversity and inclusion in the STEM community.