Projects
The impact of chromosomal abnormalities in hPSC-derived retinal pigmented epithelial cells Vrije Universiteit Brussel
blindness and vision impairment worldwide and is a result of the
degeneration of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). The most novel
cell therapy to effectively cure AMD is based on the use of human
pluripotent stem cells (hPSC) to make RPE for transplantation, and
the first clinical trials yielded promising results. However, hPSC kept
in ...
Recovery from critical illness: role of autophagy and epigenetics. KU Leuven
The development of critical care medicine over the last 50 years allowed patients to survive acute life-threatening conditions. Whereas most of these patients recover within a few days, a substantial number of critically ill patients develop multiple organ failure (MOF), which prolongs the dependency on intensive care and increases health care costs. Despite major advances in intensive medical care, MOF is still a leading cause of morbidity ...
Effective information exchange and care orientation in Covid-19-related contact tracing phone calls. An applied sociolinguistic and conversation analytic enquiry into optimizing interactional dynamics and pragmatic awareness. Ghent University
Responding to a number of urgent problems noted in the area of Covid-19 contact tracing (reluctance to give information, lack of care orientation, script-dominated talk), this project analyses and seeks to optimize the interactional functioning of the contact tracing phone call services coordinated by the Flemish Agency for Health & Care. It combines 4 objectives: (i) diagnosis of interactional practice in 3 cycles of data collection and ...
Is their a role for endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 1 in experimental colitis and inflammatory bowel disease? Ghent University
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the intestine for which no
definitive cure exists. Searching for novel therapeutic targets, we identified a functional candidate
gene for IBD, called endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 1 (ERAP1). This gene is located within a
risk locus identified in genome-wide association studies (5q15) and we showed a reduced
expression of ERAP1 in peripheral blood ...
Comprehensive Imaging of the Respiratory system for Construing Early lung disease in Cystic Fibrosis (the CIRCE-CF study). KU Leuven
In Europe, CF is the most common life shortening inherited disorder. Median survival is 37 years. Most patients die from lung disease (CFLD).
Much can be gained from prevention or better treatment of early CFLD. Since CF newborn screening is available in many European countries, this task becomes even more important. CFLD is thought to affect the small airways early in life. So far no one has managed to directly show this as the small ...
Fibrinolysis and proteolysis in bacterial spread and tissue destruction. KU Leuven
In this PhD project, we have studied the role of the host hemostatic system and its manipulation by S. aureus in the outcome of S. aureus infections.
It has long been known that most S. aureus strains produce staphylokinase. We have shown that staphylokinase-mediated fibrinolytic and proteolytic activity permit the local invasion of S. aureus in skin and soft tissue through degradation of fibrin and ...