Projects
The role of intestinal microbiota in the development of inflammatory bowel diseases: identification of potentially beneficial and harmful micorbiota through ex vivo organoid technology. KU Leuven
The exact pathogenesis of Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) remains incompletely understood, but a loss of tolerance to gut microbiota seems crucial. Interactions between host and microbiota take place at the intestinal surface which consists of intestinal stem cells (ISC), enterocytes, goblet, enteroendocrine, and Paneth cells. The differentiation of ISC into progeny cells is suggested to be disturbed in CD and UC. The impact ...
GUT VIrus BRain Axis Technology In OrgaNoid Science KU Leuven
The battle against infectious diseases is hampered by lack of therapeutic innovations due to poor understanding of disease outcome in humans. Organoid technology is a major breakthrough for medical research that has traditionally relied heavily on animal models. In our current OrganoVIR consortium, we are at the forefront in establishing human organoids as superior models for viral pathogenesis and antiviral research. The next critical step ...
Combinatorial, High-throughput organoid screens for personalized medicine KU Leuven
Perspectives for patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) have dramatically changed over the last few years, with the advent of CFTR modulators, a new treatment class comprising several mutation-specific drugs. Recent drug development efforts are directed to the most frequent CFTR mutation (F508del) and a handful of less frequent mutations, excluding around 10% of patients with only rare mutations, who depend on academic research innovation and ...
OrganID: Organ-derived complex 2D/3D cultures in human disease KU Leuven
2D/3D organoids are miniaturized and simplified in vitro systems of organs derived from biopsies
either from human or animal tissue. They are characterized by heterogeneity and complexity and
therefore resemble well the in vivo situation. If cultured under specific growth conditions, the
stem cells of these biopsies grow out to a spheroid 3-dimensional structures resembling the
original organ they were derived of. One ...
Gene Therapy Innovation Network KU Leuven
Patient-derived cell models and genome engineering for precision therapy of cystic fibrosis KU Leuven
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common life-shortening monogenic disorder causing multi-organ disease. CF is caused by mutations in the CFTR gene, which encodes a Cl-/HCO3- channel expressed in the apical membrane of epithelial cells. Current small molecule treatment is available to ~60% of CF patients and with new modulators in the pipeline, potentially 90% of CF patients can be treated. The last 10%, i.e. the minimal function mutations, ...
Serine auxotrophy: a novel metabolic vulnerability of platinum resistant ovarian cancers? KU Leuven
Ovarian cancer is the eight most common type of cancer in women and accounts for the second highest number of gynecological cancers associated deaths in the developed world. While for many cancer types the overall survival increased over the last years, this is unfortunately not true for ovarian cancer, showing a stagnation over the last decades. For over 40 years standard of care consists out of platinum-based chemotherapy, with or without ...
Dynamic modelling of human progressive lung fibrosis in a human lung on chip KU Leuven
My research goal is to develop beyond state-of-the-art patient-derived complex cell models of interstitial lung diseases with progressive fibrosis (PF-ILD), amenable to precision medicine and implementation within drug discovery initiatives for better anti-fibrotic or disease modifying drugs. PF-ILD has a fatal outcome, with lung transplantation as only therapeutic option. Recent antifibrotic drugs can only slow down but not halt the disease. ...