Paul Van Hummelen, PhD is a molecular biologist and R&D scientist with over two decades of experience in genomics, cancer research, and more recently, organ health. He has been at the forefront of developing genome-wide assays and biomarker discovery tools, including microarrays, next-generation sequencing, and liquid biopsy applications.

Paul earned his PhD in Cytogenetics and Genetic Toxicology from the University of Brussels (VUB) and completed postdoctoral research in human genetics at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.

In 1999, he established the VIB MicroArray Core Facility in Belgium. He returned to the United States in 2008, taking on senior scientific roles at Rutgers University, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Stanford University. Since 2020, he has been with Natera.Inc, where his research focuses on non-invasive methods to predict organ transplant rejection through blood-based testing.

Prof. Jeroen Raes (m) is full professor at KU Leuven since 2013 and VIB group leader since 2009. His group currently consists of 30 scientists, with expertise in bioinformatics, systems biology, clinical research and microbiology. He has a substantial track record in microbiome research and has been pioneering the analysis and integration of meta-omics datasets (metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, metaproteomics, meta-metabolomics) with environmental, clinical, host omics and dietary data. He was involved in the FP7 MetaHIT and NIH Human Microbiome Project (the latter as only European partner), which laid the foundations for the human microbiome field as it is today. Finally, his lab is performing a wide range of disease-related projects in a.o. IBD, diabetes, cancer, IBS and depression and develops novel approaches and tools for microbiome research. Jeroen Raes coordinates the Flemish Gut Flora project, a large-scale microbiome- focused population cohort in Belgium. He has received multiple awards and recognitions, among which a selection as FWO Odysseus Fellow, a Francqui Chair and selection for Cell journal’s “40 under 40” promising young scientists. His 2011 paper in Nature was selected by Science as part of their “Top 10 breakthroughs of the year 2011”.

Jeroen Raes has published >300 papers in top ranking journals such as Science (8), Nature (16), Cell (5), Nature Biotechnology (4), Nature Microbiology (7), Nature Reviews Microbiology (5), Gut (15) and PNAS (4). He has an h-factor of 95 and his work has been cited > 106.000 (ISI).

I studied Pharmacy at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, where I also did my PhD studying Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies. I then joined the lab of Bart De Strooper at KULeuven-VIB, Belgium, as a postdoctoral fellow to explore the role of microRNAs in Alzheimer’s disease. As a Staff Scientist in the lab of Bart De Strooper, I focused my research on the relevance of adult neurogenesis in the context of Alzheimer’s. In July 2020, I moved to the Netherlands to join the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience as an independent Group Leader. My group studies the complex protein-coding and non-coding regulatory determinants of adult hippocampal neurogenesis in neurodegeneration.

Anton De Spiegeleer is a geriatrician and ageing researcher with a special interest in sarcopenia, immunosenescence, peptidomics, and geriatric medicine. He has authored 26 international peer-reviewed publications, including 14 as first or last author.

During his PhD, he was the first to demonstrate the role of bacterial quorum sensing peptides in sarcopenia and later confirmed their presence in human plasma. He founded TRIGG (Translational Research in Immunosenescence, Gerontology, and Geriatrics), a research group supported by startup funding from Ghent University Hospital. TRIGG focuses on geroscience-driven interventions—such as microbial peptides and drug repurposing—with a particular emphasis on sarcopenia. 

Anton currently co-leads the SaMu study, investigating the link between the oral microbiome and sarcopenia in 200 older adults using multi-omics approaches, in collaboration with the VIB Nucleomics Core.

Hadrien De Blander is a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Jean-Christophe Marine. He holds doctorates in hospital pharmacy and oncology from the universities of Paris and Lyon, France.

He completed his thesis on the theme of cellular plasticity in tumor initiation in breast cancer. Continuing his research on plasticity in melanoma, his work focuses on understanding the relationship between the morphology of cancer cells and their state, leading to a new approach to phenotyping and the development of novel therapeutic strategies.

Ayse Candayan completed her PhD at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, Turkey. In 2022, she joined the VIB Center for Molecular Neurology in Antwerp as a postdoctoral researcher and is currently a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow. Her research focuses on uncovering novel genes and disease mechanisms underlying peripheral nervous system disorders, leveraging long-read sequencing technologies to explore complex and previously inaccessible regions of the genome.

WARNING: You will need your parking access code (see your confirmation email).

The campus address is Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven. 

• You leave the E314 at the exit 16 (Gasthuisberg UZ).
• At the end of the exit, you turn right when coming from the direction of Brussels, or turn left when coming from the other direction.
• Follow the signs “Onderwijs en Navorsing (O&N)” and to parking “Onderwijs en Navorsing Parking”.  
• By walk, follow the path to building “Onderwijs en Navorsing”.
• Follow this path and cross the street at the markings.
• Follow the route from the Campus entrance (see below).

Note this is a paid parking.

• You arrive via the E314 highway– EXIT 16:
  • After 200m, keep left to drive underneath the roundabout and into the tunnel
  • Keep left and follow the arrows to Parking West
• You arrive via the Leuven ring:
  • At the roundabout ‘Het Teken’, take the exit towards ‘Spoed / Ziekenhuis’
  • Follow the ring road around campus Gasthuisberg and pass the entrance of SPOED
  • Continue right until you arrive at a second roundabout ‘Vogelzang’
  • Follow the directions for E314
  • Near the Fire Brigade Station make a U‐turn and follow the directions for ‘Ziekenhuis’
  • Keep left and drive downhill, underneath the roundabout ‘Vogelzang’ and into the tunnel
  • Keep left and follow the arrows to Parking West
• Follow the indications below 'On the Campus from the Parking West'

The railway station of Leuven is situated at approximately 4 km of the hospital (Gasthuisberg). There is a bus from the railway station to the hospital every 10 minutes.

• or take the “BUITENRINGBUS” with number 600 (~7min). Departs every 10 min from platform 12 (Mon-Sat 6 AM to 8 PM). Follow the route from the main entrance of the hospital.
• Take one of the buses on platform 2 with the direction “Gasthuisberg” (~15min). Follow the route from the main entrance of the hospital.
• Take the bus 3 Route from platform 4 via the city to the campus entrance (~15 min). bus 3 Regular departures (also evenings and Sundays). Follow the route from the Campus entrance.

• Go up the stairs and enter the O&N1 building at meeting point 4.
• From the main entrance, walk in the direction of the Dentistry Skills Centre (former library) and walk alongside the Dentistry Skills Centre. From there, follow the signs listing “Onderwijs & Navorsing 4”, then “Onderwijs & Navorsing 5”.
• You will cross several buildings until you reach the main entrance hall of O&N5 (Meeting point 10).
• The walk will take up to 15 minutes.

• Once in the hospital, follow the bordeaux arrows.
• At the end of the way (please note that this is a 5 – 10 minute walk), you will see the elevators.
• Take the elevator or the stairs up to the 4th floor.
• When you exit the elevator, turn left and follow the signs listing “Onderwijs & Navorsing 4”, then “Onderwijs & Navorsing 5”.
• When you enter the O&N4 building, walk straight ahead until you reach the main entrance hall of the O&N5 (Meeting point 10). 

• Leave the parking at level +1 using the big stairs near the vending machines
• Follow the red carpet and arrows to ‘onco dagcentrum’ until you see the big stairs leading to our O&N4 and O&N5 buildings. Leave the red carpet to go up the big stairs.
• When you reach the top, the building on the left side is O&N5.