The lab: Van Den Bosch group
Lab's research themes:
The Van Den Bosch Lab focuses on the mechanisms of acute and chronic axonal and neuronal degeneration and regeneration, aiming to contribute to the development of new therapeutic strategies for neurodegenerative disorders. We intensively study motor neuron diseases (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and hereditary motor neuropathies), frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and stroke.
Merits of the lab:
Our lab is embedded in the university hospital Gasthuisberg, KULeuven and the Department of Neurology Leuven,BE. Several lab members have a MD background and combine their neurology practice with experiments in the lab. Previous research results have a.o. lead to the start up company Augustine Therapeutics
Why do we want medical doctors?
We are fully embedded in both a leading European hospital, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, with a large outpatient ALS center. The team hosts a mixture of MDs, PhDs and MDPhDs of diverse background. At present the team is composed of 35 members with several senior investigators.
The position
What’s the main purpose of our research?
The project focuses on the development of a personalized in vivo screening model for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) using patient-derived cells and zebrafish.
How we will do it?
We will use pluripotent stem cells generated from ALS patients converted into neuronal precursor cells to be injected into zebrafish embryos. These cells differentiate in the embryos into motor neurons and allow us to systematically investigate how patient-derived cells differ from controls.
Why is this important?
This novel humanized in vivo model to screen for therapeutic options reversing the observed phenotypes, which could be unique for each patient. In this way, we aim to develop a personalized therapeutic strategy for each individual ALS patient.
Who is a good fit for the project?
A medical background in neurology is required – no specific technological background.
Other positions
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IC#4 – The role polyglutamylation in tauopathic neurodegeneration
IC#3 – Evaluation of the efficiency of immunotherapy by tracing ctDNA in metastatic NSCLC and triple-negative breast cancer patients
IC#2 – New targetable vulnerabilities for the treatment of chemoresistant breast and ovarian BRCA1/2-mutated tumors
IDIBAPS#3 – Mechanisms involved in vascular inflammation/remodeling in systemic vasculitis
IDIBAPS#2 – Mechanisms and therapies for Myeloma, amyloidosis, macroglobulinemia and other gammapathies
IDIBAPS#1 – Developing and investigating computing, machine learning and physiological modelling for understanding each individual heart towards personalised medicine
BRIC#6 – Tumour evolution, heterogeneity, and understanding of the mutational processes leading to aggressive disease
IC#1 – The role of RNASE1 in lung metastatic niche establishment by breast cancer cells
MDC#3 – Neuromuscular and Cardiovascular Cell Biology
MDC#2 – Molecular and cellular basis of behavior
MDC#1 – Host-microbiome factors in cardiovascular disease
NKI#1 – Epigenetic regulation in hormone-driven cancers and therapy resistance
VIB#8 – Mechanisms of inflammation and associated tissue damage in musculoskeletal diseases
VIB#7 – Endothelial immunosuppressive mystery genes for alternative immunotherapy: artificial intelligence-driven target discovery and validation
VIB#6 – Cellular metabolism and metabolic regulation in cancer metastasis
VIB#5 – Unraveling the molecular mechanisms of neuronal degeneration in motor neuron diseases
VIB#4 – Identification of universal biomarkers of metastatic melanoma in CTCs
VIB#3 – Basic mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease and neurodegeneration
VIB#2 – Integrative genomics to underpinning somatic evolution, tumour heterogeneity, and treatment resistance
VIB#1 – Medical biotechnology to improve hepatocellular carcinoma diagnostics
BRIC#5 – The impact of severe maternal respiratory tract infections on fetal brain development and offspring behavior
