Janne earns her PhD with promising glioblastoma research

On Friday, June 26, Janne Van Hauwenhuyse successfully defended her PhD dissertation, Identification and Development of Novel Treatment Options for Glioblastoma. Her defense was the second PhD defense in our group that week, making it a special and memorable week for the entire team. In her research, Janne evaluated FR-027, a novel Exportin 1 (XPO1) […]

From CRISPR screens to breakthrough: Bert defends PhD

Time to celebrate! Our dear colleague and friend Bert Kwanten successfully defended his PhD. In his thesis, he used CRISPR−Cas9 screening to identify genes that influence the response to the cancer drug selinexor, which targets XPO1. The results of these screens laid the foundation for uncovering a novel allosteric mechanism by which selinexor mediates targeted […]

DD Lab Team Building: A Great Day of Curling, Axe Throwing and Fresh Pizza

What happens when the DD lab steps out of the work environment? A day full of laughter, challenges, and great company. During our annual team-building event, we tried curling on the ice, unleashed our inner warriors with axe throwing, and even took a refreshing dip in the swimming pond. We wrapped up the day by […]

Glioblastoma research presented at the 17th International Oncolytic Virus Conference

Our PhD student Tine Deconinck attended the 17th International Oncolytic Virus Conference, held at the iconic Harpa Conference Center in Reykjavik, Iceland. During the conference, Tine presented her research on the comparative evaluation of a large panel of oncolytic viruses in glioblastoma. Her work revealed distinct preferences of different oncolytic viruses among glioblastoma subtypes, highlighting […]

A new PhD student joins our lab

In July 2025, Talia Davids completed her Master’s degree in Biology at KU Leuven. After writing her MSc thesis on fungal infections in the laboratory of Prof. Patrick Van Dijck, she is now shifting to cancer research in our lab. Her PhD project will center on the Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT) pathway and aims […]