Principal Investigator

Cédric Blanpain, MD, PhD

Cedric Blanpain graduated as a Medical Doctor (1995), received his PhD in Medical Sciences (2001) and was board certified in internal medicine (2002) from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium. He performed a postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Elaine Fuchs, at the Rockefeller University from 2002 to 2006. Cédric Blanpain started his laboratory in October 2006 as “chercheur qualifié” of the Belgian Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS).
Cedric Blanpain received several prestigious and highly competitive awards including EMBO Young investigator award, ERC starting, ERC consolidator and ERC advanced grants, the outstanding young investigator award of the ISSCR 2012, the Liliane Bettencourt award for life sciences 2012, the Joseph Maisin Award for basic biomedical Science 2015, the Francqui prize 2020, the European Association for Cancer Research’s Mike Price gold medal 2022, the momentum award of the ISSCR 2023 and the Fondation ARC Léopold Griffuel Award for basic research 2024 . He has been elected member of the EMBO, the Belgian Royal Academy of Medicine, the Academia Europaea, the French Academy of Science, and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

Permanent Researcher

Alexandra Van Keymeulen, PhD

Alexandra Van Keymeulen received her PhD in Chemistry from Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in 2000. Alexandra joined Henry Bourne Lab (University of California San Francisco, USA) as a postdoctoral fellow from 2002 to 2006.
Alexandra joined the laboratory in 2006 as a postdoctoral fellow and was appointed to a tenure position as “chercheur qualifié” (Assistant professor) in 2008 then Maître de recherché (Associate Professor) of the Belgian Fond National de la recherche Scientifique (FNRS) in 2015. She is leading projects on the mammary gland stem cells and on the cells of origin of breast cancers.

Postdoctoral Fellows

Kevin Bévant, PhD

Kevin Bévant obtained his PhD from the University of Rennes 1, France in 2021. Kevin joined the lab in June 2021 as a postdoctoral fellow. He is working on tumor heterogeneity and the identification of tumor states.

Chen Jiang, PhD

Chen Jiang received his M.S. from Nanjing University, China in 2015. He then obtained his Ph.D. from University of Marburg, Germany in 2021. In September 2021 he joined our lab as a postdoctoral fellow to study mechanisms regulating stem cell multipotency during tissue repair and tumor initiation.

Louciné Mitoyan, PhD

Louciné obtained her PhD from Aix-Marseille University (France) in 2021. She joined our laboratory as a postdoctoral fellow in April 2022. She aims to understand cell-cell communications and how tumor states identity is regulated.

Anqi Dong, PhD

Anqi Dong obtained her PhD from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2021. Anqi joined our lab as a postdoctoral fellow in August 2022. Anqi is interested in the mechanisms regulating tumor heterogeneity and tumor cell-stromal cell interactions.

Sebastiaan Vanuytven, PhD

Sebastiaan Vanuytven obtained his Master's degrees in Biomedical Sciences and Bioinformatics from the KU Leuven in 2015 and 2017, respectively. He then completed his graduate study in the groups of Prof. Thierry Voet (KU Leuven) and Prof. Peter Van Loo (Crick). Sebastiaan joined the lab in 2023, and his research will focus on untangling cellular heterogeneity in cancer through the use of single-cell (multi-)omics.

Qiang He, PhD

Qiang obtained his PhD from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (China) in 2022. He joined our laboratory as a postdoctoral fellow in January 2024, focusing on studying cancer resistance to therapy.

Deng Wang (PhD)

Deng Wang obtained his PhD from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China in 2024. Deng joined our lab as a postdoctoral fellow in July 2024. He is studying the interaction between different oncogenic hits and tumor microenvironment during the initiation and development of skin tumors.

PhD Students

Yura Song, MS

Yura Song obtained her Master degree in Biochemistry from Ewha Womans University in 2018. She has worked in National Cancer Center in South Korea as bioinformatician from 2015 to 2018. Yura joined our laboratory in March 2018 and she is performing bioinformatic analysis of gene regulatory networks controlling development and cancers.

Andrea Pérez Gonzalez, MS

Andrea Pérez González obtained her BSc in Biotechnology in 2019 and she subsequently received her Degree in Pharmacy (BPharm/MPharm) in 2021, both from Universidad Francisco de Vitoria (Spain). She has conducted research internships in the University of Cambridge (Amgen European Scholar), Santiago de Compostela University and the New York Stem Cell Foundation. In August 2021, Andrea received a ITN Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant to join the laboratory as a PhD student. As part of the Evomet research project, she aims to characterize the tumor transition states involved in metastasis.

Mónica Jordán Pirla, MS

Mónica Jordán received her BSc in Biomedical Sciences in 2019 and she obtained her MSc in Biomedicine in Basic and Translational Research in Cancer in 2020, both awarded by the University of Barcelona. In August 2021, Mónica received a ITN Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant to join ChromaCure and the laboratory as a PhD student. She is studying the genes and signalling pathways involved in metastatic cancer dormancy.

Julie Sarrand, MD

Julie Sarrand obtained her medical degree (MD) at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in 2016. From 2016 to 2019, she has done internship in Internal general medicine and has since been a post-graduate in rheumatology. Julie joined our laboratory in October 2021. She's interested in tumor heterogeneity and more precisely in the characterization of gene regulatory networks controlling EMT.

Gabriel Windels, MS

Gabriel obtained his master at the Universite de Paris in 2021. He studied Biomedical Engineering and biotherapies with various extracurricular research activity. After that, worked on Bioinformatic profiling of tissue therapy donor at the French Bloodbank(EFS) for over one year before arriving at the Blanpain lab. Gabriel focuses on Bioinformatics in Clinical research and development and studies the profiling and description of cancer regulation and their heterogeneity at the single cell level in the context of regenerative cell therapies.

Brigida Novello, MS

Brigida Novello obtained her BSc in Biotechnology in 2019 and she completed her Master's Degree in Pharmaceutical Biotechnologies" in 2021, both at University of Padua (Italy). She aims to define the contribution of retrotranspons expression and viral mimicry during mammary gland development and breast tumorigenesis

Dan Engelman, MD

Dan Engelman obtained his medical degree (MD) at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in 2019. From 2019 to 2022, he has conducted an internship in internal medicine and since is in training in medical oncology. Dan joined our laboratory in October 2022. He is studying the effect of multiple oncogenic hits on skin stem cells and tumor initiation

Anaïs Bauduin, MS

Anaïs obtained her Master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences from the “Université Libre de Bruxelles” in 2023. She joined the lab to perform her master thesis in 2022 and after conducting a research internship at the University of Cambridge (Cambridge Stem Cell Institute) she is now performing a PhD in the lab since October 2023 . Anaïs is studying the cellular and molecular mechanisms of clonal competition upon oncogenic transformation during tissue regeneration.

Sara Llorens, MS

Sara Llorens received her BSc in Biology in 2022 from the University of Córdoba (Spain) and obtained her MSc in Biomedical Biotechnology from the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain) in 2024. She completed research internships at the Maimonides Biomedical Research Institute of Córdoba (2021) for her BSc thesis, which centered on liver cancer, and at the Principe Felipe Research Center Foundation (2024) for her MSc thesis, which explored breast cancer and entosis. Sara joined the laboratory as a PhD student, where her project explores the role of Zeb1 in breast cancer.

Amélie Viaene, MS

Amélie Viaene obtained her Master Degree in June 2024 at the University of Namur. She has conducted a professional internship at the Whitehead Institute in Boston, MA before joining our lab in October 2024 as a PhD. She aims to decipher the cell plasticity preceding tumor appearance in the mammary gland.

Technicians

Catherine Paulissen, BS

Catherine Paulissen received a BS in Medical Biology from la Haute Ecole André Vésale, Liège. Catherine has been working in the laboratory since December 2006.

Gaelle Bouvencourt, BS

Gaelle is studying a BS in Chemistry at Haute Ecole Provinciale de Hainaut (HEPH Condorcet). Gaelle Bouvencourt performed a rotation in our lab in 2009 and joined the group in February 2010.

Virginie Moers, PhD

Virginie Moers obtained her PhD in the Université Libre de Bruxelles in 2008 in the laboratory of Eric Belefroid. Virginie joined our laboratory in January 2011.

Christine Dubois, MS

Christine Dubois received a master degree in Biology from the Universite Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). Christine joined our lab in 2012 and is manager of the flow cytometry and cell sorting facility of the School of medicine.

Sebastien Delcambre, MS

Sébastien Delcambre received his Master degree in medical biology from the University of Mons (June 2014). He joined the group in February 2015 and he is now working at the PDX facility.

Sophie Lemaire, BS

Sophie Lemaire received her BS in Medical Biology at Institut Paul Lambin in 2005. She worked at the CODA-CERVA during 9 years. She joined our lab in October 2015.

Samuel Scozzaro, MS

Samuel Scozzaro received a Master degree in Biomedical sciences from Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in 2017. Samuel joined our laboratory in September 2017.

Anne-Lise Delaunois, MS

Anne-Lise Delaunois obtained her Master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences from the Université Catholique de Louvain in 2019. She joined our laboratory in February 2020.

Jérémy Blondeau, BS

Jérémy Blondeau received a BS in Medical Biology from la Haute École Louvain en Hainaut (HELHa), Montignies-sur-Sambre in 2019. Jérémy joined our laboratory in February 2020.

Zahra Zahedi, MS

Zahra Zahedi holds a MS in Animal Genetics and Breeding from TMU, Teheran, Iran and a MS in Molecular Biology from VUB, Bruxelles, Belgium. She started to work in the laboratory in March 2020.

Mélanie Liagre, BS

Mélanie Liagre received her BS in Biochemistry at Haute Ecole Provinciale de Hainaut (HEPH Condorcet) in 2012.

Pascale Deblandre

Lieselot Van De Putte, MS

Lieselot Van de Putte obtained her Master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences from Ghent University in 2024. She joined our lab in July 2024.

Christophe Riguelle, BS

Christophe Riguelle received a BS in Chemistry from Institut Roger Lambion (IRL) in June 2024. He subsequently joined our laboratory in September 2024.

Administrative staff

Marylene Poelaert, MA

Marylène Poelaert holds a Master in history and a Master in information science. She has been chief of staff for the President (Rector) of the Université Libre de Bruxelles for more than seven years. Since 2018,  Marylène has been responsible for the administrative management of the laboratory of stem cells and cancer and Prof. Cedric Blanpain’s executive assistant.

Previous lab members

Former PhD students

 

Maud Debaugnies

Otorhinolaryngologist at CHU Brugmann, Belgium

Nordin Bansaccal

Resident in Pediatry, Hôpital Erasme, Brussels, ULB, Belgium.

Benjamin Swedlund

Postdoctoral scholar in the Morsut lab at the University of Southern California

Alessia Centonze

Postdoctoral researcher at IRB Barcelona, Spain

Tatiana Revenco

Data Protection Manager & personnel development lead at Mydata-TRUST, Belgium

Sophie Dekoninck

Biomarker Lead at iTeos Therapeutics, Belgium

Farida Benhadou

Dermatologist at Erasme hospital, Belgium

Aline Wuidart

Jean Christophe Larsimont

Chief Technical Officer at Belgian Process Solutions, Dion-Valmont, Belgium

Andreas Karambelas

Soufiane Boumahdi 

Senior scientist at Iteos Therapeutics, Belgium

Aurélie Candi

Lead Biologist-Project Manager, CISTIM, Leuven, Belgium

Guilhem Mascré

Solftware developer at Labsoft, France

Samira Chabab

Senior Scientific Writer at GSK, Belgium

Giuseppe Chiapparo

Personal Development Lead and DPO at MyData-Trust, Belgium

Khalil Kass Youssef

Postdoc in Nieto lab, EMBO fellow, Alicante, Spain

Antoine Bondue

Head of the department of cardiology, Erasme hospital, ULB, Belgium

Former postdoctoral researchers 

 

Justine Lengrand

Consultant in Life Sciences at EFOR, Belgium

Shuheng Lin

Postdoctoral researcher at The Cancer Research Center of Marseille, France

Pauline Vieugué

Plasmid engineering team leader at Polyplus, France

Federico Mauri

Principal Scientist in Cancer Research at Boehringer Ingelheim in Vienna

Ievgeniia Pastushenko

Assistant Professeur and Director of the Laboratory of Histology at the Université libre de Bruxelles

Mariaceleste  Aragona

Associate Professor and Group Leader at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Biology, DanStem, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Gaelle Lapouge

Head of the animal facility of the Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

Adriana Sánchez-Danés

Principal Investigator at Champalimaud Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal

Maylis Raphaël

QA assurance stérilité at GSK, Belgium

Manuel Zocco

Associate Director, Clinical Science Lead at GSK, Belgium

Panagiota Sotiropoulou

CSO at T-knife Therapeutics, San Francisco, USA and Berlin, Germany

Özdemirhan Serçin

Group leader at BioMedX Institute, Heidelberg, Germany

Gregory Driessens

Senior Director, Project Head at iTeos Therapeutics SA, Belgium

Benjamin Beck

WELBIO/FNRS principal investigator, ULB, Belgium

Ana Sofia Rocha

Researcher at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute - IDIBELL, Spain

Rajshekhar Giraddi

Principal Scientist at Pfizer, Seattle, Washington, USA

Danny Nassar

Clinical Research Director at Sanofi, France

Mathilde Latil

Head of Experimental Pharmacology at Biophytis, Paris, France

Audrey Brisebarre

Postdoctoral Fellow at the Université de Reims, France

Marielle Ousset

CNRS researcher at RESTORE, Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier, France

Fabienne Lescroart

Group leader ATIP-Avenir at INSERM-Université de Marseille, France

 

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