MSCA-IF RESEARCH AREA MEDICINE & PHARMACY

On this page you will find abstract of the following research groups:

• Biology of the Testis Research Group
• Follicle Biology Unit (FOBI)

Biology of the Testis Research Group

The research group BITE has performed pioneering work on in vivo strategies for fertility preservation in young boys needing gonadotoxic treatment (SSC transplantation and tissue grafting). These are now being translated to clinical applications. However, these in vivo strategies will not benefit young boys suffering from systemic or metastasizing cancers (risk for transplanting back malignant cells), patients with Klinefelter syndrome (sclerotic testes at adult age), and patients with non-obstructive azoospermia. These patients might benefit from in vitro strategies.

Visit the BITE-website.

FOBI Research Group

The FOBI lab investigates the design and validation of new culture systems for ovarian follicles and unripe egg cells.
We therefore aim to establish practical, applicable strategies for fertility clinics.

We conduct fundamental research into in-vitro culture systems for ovarian follicles and egg cells and fundamental mechanistic research into the effects of xenobiotic substances upon in-vitro egg cell development.

We also conduct fundamental and pre-clinical research into in-vitro maturation of unripe egg cells from small antral follicles.
Our clinical activities entail the cryopreservation of gonadal tissue for female patients to avoid sterility, or in other words, preservation of fertility during cancer treatment, and in-vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes from small follicles.

Center for Neurosciences - Cognition and Modelling

The Cognition and Modelling Group (CIME) aims to bridge the gap between clinical and computational neurosciences. We focus on the analysis of brain imaging data from different modalities (EEG, MEG, fMRI) and clinical populations (multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s dementia). The techniques we employ range from ERP analyses, to the assessment of functional connectivity and graph theoretical analyses to computational modelling (e.g. Hidden Markov Model, Kuramoto model) and artificial intelligence techniques (support vector machines, artificial neural networks, …), with the goal to develop biomarkers for cognitive deterioration in neurological disorders.

Read more on the website.

The In Vitro Toxicology and Dermato-Cosmetology (IVTD) lab

Research at IVTD focuses on the development of mechanism-based and human-relevant liver cell models for the toxicity testing of drugs and other chemical compounds, as well as for in vitro liver disease modelling purposes. These projects aim to improve human health and safety through the identification of new drug targets and liver disease biomarkers, and to facilitate greater accuracy in liver toxicity prediction. 

Read more on our website: https://ivtd.research.vub.be/en/home

Frailty in Ageing Research Department

The Frailty in Ageing (FRIA) research department at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel is a clinical and research team that typically represents multidisciplinary competence, needed for both fundamental and clinical research on frailty in the elderly.

Frailty is a complex geriatric syndrome characterised by a state of increased vulnerability at higher age. There is growing evidence for the involvement of inflammatory processes in the development of frailty. Frail elderly subjects show several clinical manifestations such as sarcopenia, dynapenia, fatigue, sedentary lifestyle, malnutrition, cognitive decline and disability in activities of daily life. Frailty is a typically unstable condition, which can be aggravated by a multitude of triggers of clinical (disease, trauma, etc) and psychosocial (life events) origin.

The aims of FRIA's research activities are to untangle the underlying mechanisms and to develop interventions for prevention and rehabilitation of frailty in the aged.

https://fria.research.vub.be/en

Laboratory of Medical and Molecular Oncology

Laboratory of Medical and Molecular Oncology (LMMO) comprises a clinical Department of Medical Oncology of the Oncologisch Centrum UZ Brussel and a Laboratory of Molecular Oncology in the Faculty of Medicine. The aim of the group is to help advance targeted therapies for cancer in genomically defined patients (personalized medicine).

Read more on the website.

Liver Cell Biology Research Group

In general, research projects at LIVR aim to better characterize the different liver cell types in healthy and pathological conditions, and to gain a better insight in the mechanisms of liver regeneration and the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis.

The LIVR team investigates:

• the mechanisms of liver fibrosis development and resolution
• the identification of hepatic stellate cell-specific biomarkers for liver fibrosis staging
• the generation of in vitro liver disease models
• iPSC derived liver cells for in vitro disease modeling
• the role for liver progenitor cells during liver regeneration

Long term objectives are:

• Contribute to the understanding of mechanisms involved in liver fibrosis
• Discover therapeutic targets for chronic liver diseases including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
• Develop in vitro models representative for human chronic liver disease

Read more on the website

Translational Radiation Oncology, supportive care and Physics

Radiotherapy is one of the treatment methods offered within Oncology besides surgery and chemotherapy. It is a multidisciplinary discipline which is subject to the highest safety, accuracy and precision standards. Thanks to the on-going introduction of breakthrough innovation, the Radiotherapy Department at UZ Brussel is able to offer the highest quality and most advanced hi-tech treatments to patients.

Research topics 

• Image-guided Radiotherapy
• Colorectal Cancer
• Radiobiology

Read more on the website.