VIB-KU Leuven Center For Brain & Disease Research

⚡ For #WorldAmyloidosisDay, we introduce BE.Amycon: a new VIB Grand Challenges initiative uniting scientists, doctors, and patients across Belgium to address the challenges posed by amyloidosis. 💬 "In Belgium, we have a wealth of amyloidosis expertise – world-class scientists, brilliant clinicians, and a strong patient community – but we don't have a solid framework in place to bridge these pockets of knowledge and foster communication between all stakeholders." Rodrigo Gallardo, project lead shares. "That's where BE.Amycon comes in." Read the whole story 👉 https://lnkd.in/eyye2Dqp KU Leuven | UZ Leuven | VIB Switch Laboratory | Joost Schymkowitz | Frederic Rousseau | Michel Delforge | Annelore Vandendriessche | Alicia Colla

🤝 Twin4Promis is an EU Twinning Project that brings scientists together to collaboratively tackle protein aggregation. The Switch Lab is one of the research groups contributing its expertise and resources to the mission. 🚀 Two years after the project’s launch, we check in to find out how the partnership has progressed and the impact it has had. 💬 "Thanks to the #Twin4Promis project, I had the chance to not only work in a lab abroad, but in the Switch Lab specifically. I’m still excited to have had the opportunity to come here and collaborate with them – it feels surreal, especially after following their groundbreaking work for years." Effie Karyda, a PhD student visiting the Switch Lab through the Twin4Promis initiative. Read the blog 👉 https://lnkd.in/eRNhkSDk Twin4PromisHorizonEU Twinning Project | VIB Switch Laboratory | Joost Schymkowitz | Frederic Rousseau | Valentina Zorzini | Rodrigo Gallardo

🌠 Wim Annaert, group leader of the Laboratory of Membrane Trafficking, has received a BrightFocus Foundation Grant to study the mechanisms of Alzheimer's Disease! In this project, researchers will combine novel chimeric human-mouse models with in vitro human neurons and microglia to investigate the cell type specific contributions of the gene presenilin2 to Alzheimer's disease pathology. Find out more 👉 https://lnkd.in/e7Y5VgGw

📣 New research from the Vanderhaeghen Lab finds link between genes involved in human brain evolution and developmental disorders 🧠📈 💡 The human brain’s remarkably prolonged development is unique among mammals and is thought to contribute to our advanced learning abilities. 🧬 Researchers based at our Center, in collaboration with scientists at Columbia University and Ecole normale supérieure, have discovered a link between two genes present only in human DNA and a key gene called SYNGAP1. “We discovered that when you turn off these genes in human neurons, synaptic development speeds up at remarkable levels," says Dr. Baptiste Libé-Philippot, a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Vanderhaeghen Lab. "By 18 months, the synapses are comparable to what we would expect to see in children between five and ten years old! This mirrors the accelerated synapse development observed in certain forms of autism spectrum disorder.” Find out more about the study, published in Neuron ⤵️ https://lnkd.in/eNNb7KV8

🚀 It's a wrap for #BrainMosaic24! This VIB conference brought the international neuroscience community together to delve into the world of using single-cell and spatial multi-omics to study the brain and nervous system 🧠💥 Explore insights from conference organizing committee members, reporters, and speakers ▶ https://lnkd.in/e98pvwiA 🎇 Congratulations to our own Giulia Albertini for taking home the Nature Portfolio Neuroscience Poster Prize! / 🗃 Organizing committee members based at the VIB-KU Leuven Center For Brain & Disease Research: Lynette Lim, Stein Aerts, and Bart De Strooper 🔉 Speakers based at the VIB-KU Leuven Center For Brain & Disease Research: Esther Klingler, Pablo Largo-Barrientos, and Annerieke Sierksma.

👋 Meet Silke Vanderhaeghe, Editor at #TheOptimist: a magazine by and for PhD students to help them survive and thrive in what's referred to in academia lingo as 'The Valley of Shit' 💩🗻 As Silke wraps up her PhD in the Ludo Van Den Bosch Lab and her tenure as Editor, we take a moment to look back on highlights from the past few years and catch up on her next steps in writing and... sled dogs! 🐕 🛷 Read the Blog 👉 https://lnkd.in/esda6u5m

🎇 Congratulations to our PhD students who received prestigious fellowships from the Research Foundation Flanders - FWO to fund their research! 🚀 • Lenja De Cock (Laboratory of Neurobiology) • Hannah Dickmänken (Laboratory of Computational Biology) • Jozefien Goethals (Laboratory of Neurobiology) • Alexandra Pančíková (Laboratory of Computational Biology) • Caterina Travisan (Laboratory of Proteolytic Mechanisms Mediating Neurodegeneration) • Annie Wiedmer (Laboratory of Neuronal Communication)

👁️🗨️ Watch Christine Germeys, PhD student in the Lab of Neurobiology (Ludo Van Den Bosch), share a bite-sized summary of her research on EGLN2, a potential new therapeutic target for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)! 📹 https://lnkd.in/eAarviNu 📰 https://lnkd.in/eMjbWh_2

Happy #ThrowbackThursday! In light of World Alzheimer's Day, Nature Portfolio published a timeline of the disease's research breakthroughs, including Bart De Strooper and Wim Annaert's contributions to discovering the link between PSEN1 and γ-secretase. More about this milestone 👉 https://lnkd.in/ePhtKnKH View the entire history of Alzheimer's Disease 👉 https://lnkd.in/ezF-BvTj

🚀 Launching our International PhD Call 2025, an incredible opportunity to kickstart your neuroscience career in our dynamic research hub in the heart of Europe! 🌍 Candidates can apply to any one of the 🔟 cutting-edge projects available, to explore the molecular mechanisms driving the brain and nervous system in health and disease 👩💻 💡 More info on how to apply and PhD life at our Center here ⤵️ https://buff.ly/3Y0KFn3 ♻️ Share the International PhD Call 2025 with your networks!