Academia

VIB: the driving force behind a booming biotech ecosystem

Since VIB was established, the world class research institute has been led by a duo of managing directors. As Johan […] July 7, 2020 · BioVox

Colorectal cancer discovery raises hope for microbiome treatment

A new mechanism causing colorectal cancer has been discovered by researchers from VIB and Ghent University. A specific protein was […] July 7, 2020 · BioVox

Fundamental research leads to treatment breakthrough in rare genetic diseases

A basic research breakthrough is improving patient lives, as researchers realized their rare genetic condition could be treated by repurposing […] June 8, 2020 · BioVox

Talking T cells with David Masopust

Immunology is a complex but vitally important branch of the life sciences. Earlier this year, we attended a Keystone Symposia […] June 8, 2020 · BioVox

Belgian clinical trials for COVID-19

With COVID-19 cases soaring into the millions, and a vaccine still a ways off, patients are desperate for a treatment. […] May 5, 2020 · BioVox

University Hospital Ghent and VIB are testing medication to treat COVID-19-associated respiratory illness

University Hospital Ghent and VIB are assessing a drug called Leukine® to treat patients with respiratory illness associated with COVID-19. Major medical centers in [...] March 25, 2020 · BioVox

Professors of Product Development from UAntwerp are looking at emergency production of mouth masks

At the University of Antwerp, twelve product developers are working day and night to develop oral masks. “Together with industrial partners, we try to set up an [...] March 24, 2020 · BioVox

Gates Foundation commissions large coronavirus study from KU Leuven

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is to provide samples of 15,000 therapeutic molecules to the Gasthuisberg hospital at the University of Leuven, to aid research into therapies to combat the coronavirus COVID-19, De Standaard reports. March 24, 2020 · BioVox

VIB achieves important milestone in the development of a COVID-19 drug

Earlier this year, the lab of Xavier Saelens (VIB-UGent) announced the discovery of a unique antibody that is capable of binding the virus that causes COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2). [...] March 24, 2020 · BioVox

Augustine Therapeutics: bridging the valley of death with VIB Discovery Sciences

Augustine Therapeutics is one of VIB’s latest spinoffs, developing a first-in-class drug for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. The company recently announced a seed-funding [...] February 26, 2020 · V-Bio Ventures

Battling antibiotic resistance: new strategy targets bacterial slime

Researchers have developed a new antibacterial strategy that weakens bacteria by preventing them from cooperating. The method involves attacking the protective biofilm [...] January 22, 2020 · BioVox

Signposts inspired by bat sonar improve self-driving robots

To improve sonar navigation systems used by self-driving robots, researchers from Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany have turned to nature for an ingenious solution. [...] January 22, 2020 · BioVox

New immune system gene discovered in a Flemish boy

Researchers studying a rare disease have identified a new gene responsible for human immune system regulation. An international collaboration combined […] November 26, 2019 · BioVox

The 2019 Nobel Prize in Medicine: How do cells adapt to changing oxygen levels?

The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to William G. Kaelin Jr, Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza. Their discoveries have [...] October 24, 2019 · BioVox

HIV breakthrough at UZ Gent leads to new hope for a cure

When patients take HIV medication, a small amount of the virus nonetheless stays hidden in the body, preventing a cure. […] September 23, 2019 · BioVox

Meet the men who unraveled the mystery of protein folding

Franz-Ulrich Hartl and Arthur Horwich have been named the winners of the 2019 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research. […] August 27, 2019 · Janssen Pharmaceutica

Solving food waste one StixFresh sticker at a time

Food waste is a major global issue exacerbated by premature fruit spoilage. A US company, StixFresh, is working together with VIB-KU Leuven Prof Patrick Van Dijck [...] July 15, 2019 · BioVox

WELBIO joins ranks with celebrities after a new bacterium is named after the institute

WELBIO has received a truly unique form of acknowledgement: a newly discovered bacterium has been named after the research institute. […] July 10, 2019 · Turnstone Communications

Edible antibodies to prevent and treat gut diseases

Belgian researchers have developed edible antibodies that can prevent gut bacterial infections. Normally antibodies need to be injected, but the […] June 27, 2019 · BioVox

A new type of power plants to combat climate change

The prestigious organization EMBO recently announced several new members, including the appointment of VIB-UGent scientist Prof Wout Boerjan. Boerjan joins […] June 27, 2019 · BioVox

Science for health: a new event for creating research connections

Science for health is Belgium’s new research event, set to promote more collaborations in our stellar life sciences ecosystem. The […] May 29, 2019 · BioVox

Deadly mosquitoes are invading Europe

Due to climate change, two species of tropical mosquitoes are spreading into Europe at increasing rates. Their presence is linked to a range of tropical viruses [...] April 3, 2019 · BioVox

Hydrogen gas panel set to revolutionize clean energy production

Bioscience engineers at KU Leuven have created a record-breaking hydrogen gas panel. The panel is capable of producing 250 liters of hydrogen gas per day [...] March 27, 2019 · BioVox

Women in STEM: fixing the leaky pipeline

Happy International Women’s Day! This year, in honor of the day, we’ve decided to highlight an important and personal topic: […] March 8, 2019 · BioVox

Microbiome linked to depression in a groundbreaking Benelux study

The microbiome had been at the forefront of a lot of research and news in the past few years. Now, […] February 19, 2019 · BioVox

Life after a PhD: alternatives to academia

This article was authored by Rishabh Chawla from V-Bio Ventures. Having finished a PhD in life sciences can often leave […] February 19, 2019 · V-Bio Ventures

New laser-based medical device revolutionizes cardiovascular disease diagnosis

Imec and Ghent University have developed a unique photonic-based medical device for the screening of arterial stiffness and the diagnosis […] January 16, 2019 · BioVox

A microbiome solution for type 1 diabetes?

Few things unite us the way trying to help a sick child does. Children living with the burden of type […] December 14, 2018 · Janssen Pharmaceutica

A Personal Translation of Microbiome Futures

Nature Biotechnology published a thought-provoking piece addressing critical questions in the development of microbiome-based solutions focused on disease interception. Co-authored […] November 28, 2018 · Janssen Pharmaceutica

AI and The Black Box Dilemma

Artificial intelligence has become a regular staple in our modern lives. With increasingly complex programs allowing for scarily accurate image […] November 6, 2018 · BioVox

Ghent knowledge hub growing strong

The Flemish life sciences ecosystem is stronger than ever. This expertise, in biotech and health, is plain to see in […] October 23, 2018 · Turnstone Communications

Are the days of journal paywalls finally numbered?

Europe has taken an ambitious step forwards in the fight for open access to academic papers. On September 4th, Science […] September 25, 2018 · BioVox

Saving lives through fundamental research: James Allison wins Dr. Paul Janssen Award 2018

Dr. James Allison has dedicated his career to improving our fundamental understanding of how the adaptive immune system works. Much […] September 18, 2018 · Janssen Pharmaceutica

Can weeds be programmed to exterminate themselves?

Walking through a forest on a breezy September day, the very air seems to crackle with colour and life. The […] September 11, 2018 · BioVox

How CRISPR/Cas9 is improving drug development using zebrafish

CRISPR/Cas9 came to the attention of scientists everywhere over five years ago. Ever since it hit the main stage, the […] September 4, 2018 · Turnstone Communications

Uncovering the secrets of inflammasomes

Mohamed (Mo) Lamkanfi made the jump from academia to industry a mere eight months ago, to pursue a career with […] August 21, 2018 · Janssen Pharmaceutica

The world's smallest diamonds

Researchers at Hasselt University have just synthesised the world’s smallest diamonds. The gems, based on a 26-atom carbon core, will be useful in a whole range [...] August 14, 2018 · BioVox

New beta cell antigens discovered in Type 1 diabetes

A study published just last week has unveiled several new antigens implicated in Type 1 diabetes. In an ongoing project, […] August 7, 2018 · Turnstone Communications

Cycling for Science

Researchers from Ghent University have been able to map the effects of climate change thanks to images of the Tour […] July 16, 2018 · BioVox

Damya Laoui at the forefront of cancer immunotherapy

Photo copyright: VUB / Thierry Geenen Last year, Damya Laoui received the prestigious American MIT-prize for young innovators under 35 […] July 3, 2018 · BioVox

TrinCE transfection wins pitch awards

The pitching session at Knowledge for Growth 2018 gave a select number of start-ups a chance to present their company […] June 5, 2018 · Turnstone Communications

CD3 as co-creator of drugs with academia and pharma

The Center for Drug Design and Discovery (CD3), based in Leuven, bridges the gap between innovative biomedical research emerging from […] May 28, 2018 · Turnstone Communications

Visualizing the deep with a drivable endoscope that crawls into the sinus anatomy!

Do you suffer from chronic sinusitis? 3NT Medical have developed a highly advanced endoscope that allows access, visualization and treatment […] May 28, 2018 · Turnstone Communications

Two genes work together to trigger childhood leukemia

Two known cancer-causing genes, HOXA9 and JAK3/STAT5, are cooperating to trigger acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a common form of childhood cancer. […] April 17, 2018 · BioVox

European collaboration project set to track all human cells

Over sixty leading European scientists are uniting in an ambitious project to track every cell in the human body. The […] April 17, 2018 · BioVox

Leveraging terabytes of single cell data

Yvan Saeys is a young professor at VIB-UGent. As the group leader of the department of Data Mining and Modeling […] April 16, 2018 · Janssen Pharmaceutica

From Academia to Industry: growing in new directions

What does it mean to “be a scientist”? People generally have a very academia-centric view: scientists do research, write grants […] April 12, 2018 · Janssen Pharmaceutica

A world without disease: Janssen - Flanders.bio partner day 2018

A new vision was in the spotlight at the Flanders.bio – Janssen Pharmaceutica Partner Day this year. “A world without […] March 19, 2018 · Janssen Pharmaceutica

Imaging beta-cells for better diabetes treatment

One in eleven adults around the world has diabetes, according to figures published by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) in […] March 18, 2018 · Turnstone Communications

Caitlin Gillis at VIB - Foreign Scientist in Belgium

Caitlin Gillis left the sunshine and warmth of Australia a few years ago to come live Europe. After a stint […] March 18, 2018 · BioVox

The biggest killer after malaria - How to tackle RSV?

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) annually threatens many babies and there is currently no drug or vaccine to combat the disease. […] February 19, 2018 · Turnstone Communications

Growing organs in the lab: science or science fiction?

Catherine Verfaillie was very close to being an Olympic athlete in heptathlon, but due to a major knee injury, she […] January 18, 2018 · BioVox

The controversy around sugar and cancer

In a recent article published in Nature Communications (1) by a group of scientists led by Belgian professor Johan Thevelein […] January 18, 2018 · BioVox

Curing coughs: understanding the development of asthma using dust mites

Winter is upon us and many people will be suffering from colds and coughs. However, very few of these coughs […] December 18, 2017 · BioVox

Olivier Gevaert in Stanford – Belgian scientist living abroad

After an Erasmus exchange in Germany during his Master’s in Industrial Engineering, Olivier Gevaert knew he would someday move abroad. […] December 18, 2017 · BioVox

A handheld cardiac monitor that can save lives

Chest pain is a known symptom of blocked cardiac arteries, and urgent medical care is essential to improve health outcomes. […] December 18, 2017 · BioVox

Synthetic biology – revolutionary technology in search of a better name

Despite what the name might suggest, synthetic biology is not about creating artificial life. Instead, it focuses on scouring nature […] December 18, 2017 · Turnstone Communications

Interactomics: taking apart the cellular machinery

Among the booming omics disciplines, such as genomics, proteomics, or metabolomics, the field of interactomics is perhaps less known. VIB […] November 21, 2017 · BioVox

Exploring biological samples in three dimensions: VIB BioImaging Core

Microscopy is an essential tool in life science research. Within VIB, this expertise is centralized in two core facilities: the […] November 21, 2017 · BioVox

Engineering compounds to protect crops from drought

Every year, more crops are lost to excessive heat and drought worldwide. Researchers have strived to find an affordable and […] November 20, 2017 · Turnstone Communications

How Aphea.Bio managed to gather the funds to transcend from academia to industry

Aphea.Bio is an agriculture startup, originating from the VIB and flourishing underneath the wings of V-Bio Ventures. Steven Vandenabeele (CTO […] October 16, 2017 · V-Bio Ventures

Liesbeth Aerts in Sydney - Belgian scientist living abroad

Until August 2017, Liesbeth Aerts lived in Sydney, where she worked as a dementia researcher at the University of New […] October 9, 2017 · BioVox

The leap from academia to industry

The earlier in development, the greater the risk. It’s an unspoken law in biotech that makes valorizing promising academic projects […] September 11, 2017 · V-Bio Ventures

CheckPack: Making your food packaging intelligent

Food waste is still a huge problem in Western society. In the near future, however, intelligent food packaging will be part of the solution. Not only can innovative [...] September 11, 2017 · Turnstone Communications

Lars Klareskog pushes rheumatology beyond symptomatic treatment

Over the years, the perception of inflammatory diseases has changed drastically. The advent of cytokine inhibitors meant great improvement to many patients, especially those suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. However, these treatments remain symptomatic. Together with Janssen Pharmaceutica, world-renowned rheumatologist Lars Klareskog is ready to take the research and treatment of inflammatory joint disease to the next level.

June 12, 2017 · Janssen Pharmaceutica

Sylvie Janssen in Manhattan - Belgian scientist living abroad

Sylvie Janssens lives in Manhattan, New York, where she relocated after earning her PhD in biotechnology at Ghent University. She […] June 8, 2017 · BioVox

Designer yeast: synthetic genome closer to reality

Five entirely synthetic yeast chromosomes were created this year. By 2018 every chromosome is expected to have a synthetic couterpart, resulting in en entirely synthetic genome.

May 22, 2017 · BioVox

Reversed Brexit: £250 million for Bart De Strooper's dementia research

The UK has pledged a budget of £250 million to the creation of the UK Dementia Research Institute (DRI). The […] April 17, 2017 · BioVox

Macrophages to protect you from asthma

It has long been known that exposure to microbes can play a protective role against the subsequent development of asthma. Researchers from GIGA of the University of Liège provide an explanation and propose to use this discovery to set up a strategy of cell therapy to treat asthma in humans. Their discovery is published in Immunity.

April 17, 2017 · Turnstone Communications

Partnering for a better mental health

To address the challenges of drug development, solid strategic partnerships are needed. On the Janssen partner day, the company showcased an ongoing partnership with the University of Antwerp in mental health and how this partnership leads to better outcomes.

March 14, 2017 · Janssen Pharmaceutica