The host institute VIB (Flanders institute for biotechnology, http://www.vib.be), is an interuniversity centre of excellence focused towards the fundamental understanding of molecular mechanisms of growth, normal development and disease. Partner in this EU consortium is the Laboratory of Angiogenesis and Vascular Metabolism, headed by Peter Carmeliet, one of the 12 research groups within the VIB Center for cancer biology (CCB, https://www.vibcancer.be/peter-carmeliet), situated on the Campus Gasthuisberg of KU Leuven, Belgium. The long-term objectives of the lab are to better understand the molecular basis of the formation of blood vessels (angiogenesis) in health and disease, and to translate relevant findings into therapeutic concepts. The lab has expertise in isolation and culture of endothelial cells from various tissues, genetic manipulation & transgenic mice, histology & imaging, metabolomics profiling, new generation sequencing technology, single cell sorting and multi-colour flow cytometry.
Role in ORGANTRANS
- Optimization of endothelial cell introduction into tissue constructs
- Defining the optimal endothelial cell subtype
- Defining optimal growth factor release to promote establishing and stabilizing the vasculature
- Assessment of in vivo functionality of vascularized liver tissue constructs
Key staff
Peter Carmeliet, MD, PhD, professor of Medicine at KU Leuven, group leader at VIB-CCB,has a track record in angiogenesis and endothelial cell biology, applying state-of-the-art technology (functional genomics, metabolomics, single cell transcriptomics, etc) to unravel novel molecular mechanisms underlying vessel formation in health and disease
Mieke Dewerchin, PhD, senior staff scientist, has long-term experience in vascular and endothelial cell biology and various genetic and transgenesis techniques
Guy Eelen, PhD, senior staff scientist, has over 10 years experience in endothelial cell biology with special expertise in metabolism and metabolomics
Laura de Rooij, senior postdoctoral fellow, is trained in endothelial and vascular biology with expertise in (single cell) RNA-sequencing and related bioinformatics
Carla De Legher, senior technician has extensive expertise with endothelial cell isolation, culture and functional assessment
Katie Van Geyte, PhD, is research manager of the Laboratory of Angiogenesis and Vascular Metabolism