Projects
Extracellular vesicles as putative link between respiratory virus infection and brain disease. Flanders Institute for Biotechnology
Development of next-generation 3D brain organoids for the study and modulation of immunemediated neurodegeneration in cerebrovascular disease. University of Antwerp
Genetic mosaicism in the brain as a cause of Alzheimer’s Disease KU Leuven
The large majority of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is caused by a mix of genetic and environmental causes (mainly aging) and is called sporadic AD. A small group of AD is caused by single genetic mutations and is called familial AD. In this group of patients mutations are found in the genes that affect directly the generation of the typical lesions in the AD brain, i.e. amyloid plaques and tangles. The mutations are causative and explain the ...
The eye as a window to the brain - a quest for retinal biomarkers in neurodegenerative disease KU Leuven
Because of a shared ontogenic origin, the retina displays similarities to the brain and spinal cord in terms of anatomy, functionality, response to insult, and immunology. Hence, the retina can be approached as an integral part of the central nervous system. The occurrence of ocular manifestations in several neurodegenerative pathologies, such as Alzheimer's disease disease, accentuates the strong relationship between eye and brain. ...
Towards an integrative model of spoken and written word processing in the intact brain and its decline in primary progressive aphasia and neurodegenerative disease KU Leuven
The adipose tissue – brain axis as an inflammatory link between obesity and Alzheimer's Disease Hasselt University
The risks of early-life X-ray exposure: A view on brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease pathology KU Leuven
Nowadays, hot topic for many research groups is finding treatment options for the complex and progressive neurodegenerative disorder, Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Equally important, however, is finding the initial inducers of AD, which remain largely elusive and is often subject to debate. The major risk factor for AD is unarguable ageing, which is proposed to be accelerated by ionizing radiation exposure. Epidemiological and animal studies have ...
Assessment of synaptic density and mHTT aggregates in post-mortem human brain tissue of patients with Huntington's Disease. University of Antwerp
Interpretation of genomic regulatory variation in the human brain and Parkinson’s Disease by integrating deep learning with single-cell multi-omics KU Leuven
The combination of whole-genome sequencing with matching single-cell multi-omics data provides unprecedented opportunities to unravel the impact of genomic variation on gene expression and cell state. In this project, we will use deep learning models and enhancer-based gene regulatory network inference to model enhancers and link them to target genes, applied to human substantia nigra (SN) and cingulate gyrus (CG) brain regions. Next, we will ...