Ticks are mostly notorious for the diseases they transfer onto humans and animals. But did you know we can use ticks in the battle against cardiovascular diseases? Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally. Therefore, more research is needed to understand the mechanism of this disease. My research focuses on the proteins in the saliva of ticks. These interesting proteins surpress the immune system and blood clotting in you and me. By constructing these proteins chemically we can clarify the molecular mechanisms behind cardiovascular diseases and we can investigate whether we can use them to reduce or even stop the occurance of cardiovascular diseases. More insight in cardiovascular diseases leads to better diagnostics and possibly to a cure, so in the future cardiovascular diseases would not be the leading cause of death.