PhD candidate
Center of Molecular and Vascular Biology, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Leuven, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium
Stijn Van Bruggen is a bioscience engineer, graduated from the KU Leuven (Belgium), and a PhD candidate in the Martinod NETs lab at the Center of Molecular and Vascular Biology (C.M.V.B.), KU Leuven (Belgium). In addition, Stijn performed part of his PhD research at the Wagner lab at the Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School (U.S.A.).
In 2019, Stijn started his PhD research and developed an interest in the effects of chronic inflammation on organ remodeling and dysfunction. He is mainly interested in the effects of the innate immune system during these prolonged settings of inflammation, with a specific interest in the number one innate immune cell, the neutrophil and neutrophil extracellular trapes (NET's). For his research, Stijn employs different animal models of chronic inflammation, like natural aging, obesity development and deep vein thrombosis. In these animal models, Stijn investigates the role of NETs by the use of a genetically engineered mouse line, incapable of forming NETs due to the systemic, or neutrophil specific deletion of the NET-essential gene peptidylarginine deiminase 4 (PAD4).
Prior to his PhD research, Stijn was a research intern at the Belgium Nuclear Research Centre (SCK-CEN) in Mol (Belgium) were he studied the effect of fetal exposure to ionio-zing radiation on the development of microcephaly. Later, he investigated the effect of bacteriophage infection of Salmonella Typhimurium on the virulence of this bacteria.
Monday, June 26, 2023
10:45 – 11:00 ET
Monday, June 26, 2023
15:00 – 15:15 ET