About me
I studied biochemistry at the KU Leuven (Belgium), followed by a PhD (2000-2004) in molecular biology at the KU Leuven with Prof. Dr. Humbert de Smedt. During my PhD thesis, I studied the role of Ca2+ and calmodulin in the regulation of IP3Rs. After my PhD I worked as a postdoctoral researcher (2005-2010) in the lab of Prof. Dr. Linda van Aelst at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where I studied the role of RhoGTPase signaling in excitatory synapses in the hippocampus. In 2010 I moved to the Netherlands and started my independent research group at the Radboud Medical Centre, where I am part of the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour. In 2011 I received the Hypatia Fellowship and Marie Curie reintegration grant. In 2022 I was appointed professor Medical neurosciences for neurodevelopmental disorders.
The key goal of our research is to reveal novel neurobiological concepts by resolving the genetic and epigenetic networks that are disrupted in neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), including intellectual disabilities, autism spectrum disorder and epilepsy. My team uses a multi‐level strategy that combines functional genomics and molecular & cellular neurobiological approaches, such as the generation and characterization of iPSC-derived human neural cells and mouse models. We aim to integrate fundamental neurobiological research with clinical applications and personalized medicine. In particular, our expertise in the generation of patient-derived neural lineages and their neurophysiological analysis at single cell and network level (MEA) is setting the stage in this novel research field.
