Projects
Effect of mortality on marriage and fertility in Belgium, Germany and Sweden, 1700-1930 KU Leuven
The study aims to analyse, based on historical data, the sociological and bio-evolutionary effects on long-term fertility trends in the 19th and early 20th century. In a first stage, this research will investigate the difference between the illegitimacy rate in rural and urban areas in Flanders (Belgium) and the reproductive outcome of illegitimate children. In a second stage, the research will focus on the influence of Y-DNA haplogroups on ...
Exploiting enhancer logic and transcriptional networks to control phenotype switching in melanoma KU Leuven
Enhancers are regulatory genomic regions that play an important role in gene regulatory networks. Through the binding of sequence-specific transcription factors, enhancers cooperatively regulate the expression of their target genes and, ultimately, a cell’s phenotype. Melanoma is one of the most dangerous and difficult to treat human cancers. Both cellular heterogeneity and plasticity of melanoma cell states are thought to contribute to its ...
Skeletal cell metabolism and bone regeneration KU Leuven
Bone tissue engineering consisting of stem or progenitor cells and growth factors, seeded onto a biocompatible scaffold, is a promising strategy for the healing of large bone defects. However, one of the key challenges in regenerative medicine is the poor survival of the grafted cells, which impedes translation of this strategy to clinical practice. A likely explanation is the lack of vascularization at the transplantation site, resulting in ...
Repair and upgrade of the high resolution biological SEM KU Leuven
Systematic perturbation and adaptive evolution to understand the genetic basis of complex traits KU Leuven
Residential microbial diversity and the development of the immune and neurological systems. Epidemiological studies in children KU Leuven
The range of microbial diversity in indoor dust is proposed as an explanatory mechanism for the development of allergies and may influence the neuropsychological development (ND). Microbial diversity may be determined by the landscape (residential, industrial, agricultural, forest, parks...) and explain the inconsistencies reported in the relationship between green spaces and allergies. In this project, I will evaluate the association of ...
Signs of Exposure: An Inquiry into Biosocial Zones of Engagement KU Leuven
Breathing and eating are two vital processes of exchange between the human body and its environment, but where does the body end and the environment begin? In this socio-/anthropological research, I will relate this fundamental ontological question to its immediate societal and political implications. Conceptualizing breathing and eating as indeterminate zones of exchange, I propose an ethnographic inquiry into two specific scientific ...
The Depths of the Megacity. Recent Literary Imaginaries of the Underground in Mexico City KU Leuven
This project proposes to make a fundamental contribution to contemporary literary and urban studies by focusing on the literary representation of Mexico City’s underground spaces. In spite of its remarkable presence in recent Latin American literature, this topic is completely new as a scholarly subject. In narrative texts that take place in Mexico City, subterranean spaces (metro, tunnels, sewers, etc.) frequently appear and imply a ...
Novel methodologies to assess the system value of heterogeneous, limitedly controllable demand response in power systems a high penetration of renewable energy sources KU Leuven
Demand response (DR) is considered a possible game-changing technological break-through in the integration of e.g. intermittent solar and wind power. DR allows load to accommodate changes in solar and wind power output by shifting demand in time. A significant number of residential loads contain some form of energy storage, which allows these loads to simultaneously be fully responsive and non-disruptive in terms of the perceived energy ...