Projects
Effect of pembrolizumab on biomarkers related to intratumoral immunity, proliferation and apoptosis in early breast cancer KU Leuven
Up to thirty percent of patients with early breast cancer (BC) will eventually develop metastases. This results in an ongoing search for treatments to improve the long-term survival of these patients. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) are one promising type of therapeutic targets and have shown good results in malignancies as melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer. In BC, and especially in triple negative BC (TNBC), a clinical benefit for ...
Kino2omics integration platform bridging the Genotype and Phenotype gap in medical research. University of Antwerp
Development of a novel diagnotic assay for the biochemical diagnosis of mitochondrial disorders in vital tissue KU Leuven
Primary mitochondrial disorders are characterized by aberrancies in normal mitochondrial functioning due to mutations in either nuclear or mitochondrial DNA-encoded genes. The estimated prevalence is at least 1 in 5.000 births, suggesting that there are at least 1.200 individuals in Flanders with an inherited mitochondrial disorder. However, less than 250 patients in Flanders have a diagnosis. We follow approximately 100 patients with a ...
Targeted detection of nucleic acid mutations for improved lung cancer diagnostics in liquid biopsies KU Leuven
In this project we aimed to improve the current molecular diagnostics approaches for lung cancer- related mutation detection in liquid biopsies. Liquid biopsy refers to sampling and analysis of biological fluids—typically blood—and has potential for screening, diagnosis, predicting and monitoring of treatment response. However, current assays based on circulating tumor DNA (DNA released by tumor cells in the blood) suffer from sensitivity ...
Transcriptomics in CKD-MBD; On the road to precision medicine KU Leuven
Brief background Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a common health problem affecting 10-15% of the population. Patients with CKD suffer multiple metabolic complications, among them mineral and bone disorders (MBD). CKD-MBD results in excessive morbidity and mortality due to fractures and cardiovascular disease. Progress within the field of renal bone disease (commonly referred to as renal osteodystrophy [ROD]) is hampered by a lack of validated ...
in vivo model for MECP2 - related diseases using iPSC and xenotransplantation KU Leuven
Given the uniqueness of the human brain and the difficulty to study the brain of patients at the cellular and molecular levels (neuronal material/brain biopsy), the advent of human pluripotent stem cell (PSC) has offered new opportunities to study human neural development in health and disease. We apply since 2014 the iPSC technology, to model neurodevelopmental disorders in vitro, such as MECP2 duplication syndrome and Rett syndrome. In this ...