Projects

Cell Atlasing and other fundamental cell-biology research projects require large numbers of cells to be analyzed with high sensitivity and specificity. Additionally, because the phenotypic state of a cell, is determined both intrinsically by the interplay of genomic, epigenomic, transcriptomic and proteomic cues as well as extrinsically by communication with neighbouring cells or varying environments, we will develop computational pipelines ...

High-grade serous tubo-ovarian carcinoma (HGSTOC) affects worldwide 239,000 women each year and is characterised by a poor long-term survival1. HGSTOC has a high recurrence rate, a phenomenon that has been attributed to its extensive inter- and intratumoural heterogeneity. Beside the high degree of chromosomal instability in HGSTOC cancer cells, various other cellular phenotypes involved in immune activation, hypoxia and extracellular matrix ...

Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is an enigmatic glomerulopathy whose clinical heterogeneity and differing pathophysiology remains challenging for the treating clinician, the pathologist and the geneticist. The Flemish '3F project' (the 'FCGG consortium FSGS in Flanders' project) is a multi-center research project that aims to further elucidate different aspects of this disease: epidemiology, histopathology, genetics, ...

Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most common forms of cancer, affecting 2.1 million women each year globally, while also having a considerably high mortality rate – approximately 30% in 2018 according to WHO. Obesity is another medical problem that is becoming a great concern due to its increasing prevalence (3 times between 1975 and 2016 worldwide). The association between an increased risk and/or poor prognosis of BC and obesity has been ...

The Laboratory for Translational Genetics (headed by Diether Lambrechts) aspires to tackle important questions in oncology by translating genome-scale data sets into clinically applicable knowledge. Our major focus is to characterize how the tumor micro-environment (TME) determines tumor behavior and response to anti-angiogenic and checkpoint immunotherapies, which are both frequently used in the clinic (alone or in combination). This ...

Pathological assessment in cancer patients is essential to determine the correct diagnosis, which has a significant impact on the prognosis and success of their therapeutic plan. The recent introduction of spatial proteomics techniques allows pathologists to evaluate an increasing number of putative biomarkers at the level of the individual cell. This single-cell analysis has pathological assessment in cancer patients is essential to ...

Angiogenesis, the formation of blood vessels, is a crucial contributor to tumor growth and metastasis and led to the inclusion of anti-angiogenesis treatment in cancer therapy. However, current treatment approaches, all based on targeting endothelial growth factors (e.g. VEGF), lack efficacy and face resistance, highlighting the need for improving anti-angiogenic strategies. Most research on endothelial cells (ECs) and angiogenesis has been ...

The discovery that tumors rely on angiogenesis to grow and metastasize raised expectations for anti-angiogenic therapy (AAT). AAT prolongs the lives of certain cancer patients, but lacks effect in many others, due to resistance. One important resistance mechanism is “vessel co-option”, during which cancer cells, rather than relying on angiogenesis, use pre-existing blood vessels to grow and invade. Vessel co-option occurs frequently but has ...