Projects

Fundamental knowledge concerning folate salvage in plants will be obtained, starting from transgenic riceplants (GA-lines) with adhanced folate concentrations. The effect of downregulation and overexpression of pterin aldehyde reductase (PTAR), enzymes involved in folate salvage, on folate levels will be investigated. PTAR downregulated rice plants will be obtained through insertion mutants and RNAi.

T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a rare aggressive hematological malignancy that is
characterized by the diffuse infiltration of the bone marrow by malignant T-cell progenitors. Due to the
introduction of intensified combination chemotherapy, the prognosis of T-ALL has significantly improved
over the last years, with current protocols reaching cure rates over 80% in children and about 50% in
adults. Nonetheless, the ...

Prostate cancer patients being confronted with a limited nodal recurrence are generally treated with palliative lifelong systemic androgen deprivation therapy with an important negative impact on the quality of life. The current study wants to establish a new standard of care for these patients exploring the potential of local treatments, improving progression-free survival and quality of life.

This project aims at excavating an extensive Roman settlement threatened by the construction of the Ghent harbor, called the Kluizendok.

We aim at gaining insights into the biology of a neural crest stem cell subpopulation. We wish to identify pharmacological avenues that specifically target a particular drug-tolerant state, with the ultimate goal to design rational combination therapies that prevent the occurence of relapse.

There is an urgent need to develop novel treatment strategies in the management of high-risk prostate cancer. These patients have a significantly elevated risk of disease recurrence and progression resulting in worse prognosis. To this end, the first objective of this thesis was to investigate the efficacy and tolerability of a novel second-line anti-androgen, apalutamide, prior to radical prostatectomy in high-risk PCa ...

Primary bone and soft tissue sarcomas are an exceptionally rare form of cancer, collectively accounting for only 1% of all malignancies diagnosed. There have been dramatic improvements in the survival rate of sarcoma patients in the past 40 years owing to increasing effectiveness of chemo-therapy. This, along with developments in imaging techniques have led to earlier diagnosis and more accurate preoperative staging. It is ...

SUMMARY

Normal hand function is a prerequisite for most daily activities and requires a stable motion pattern in the wrist. Despite the lack of tendon attachments to 7 of the 8 carpal bones, the wrist can provide a stable range of motion using coordinated muscle activation cooperating with a complex ligamentous configuration. Ligament lesions can disrupt this fragile joint and start a cascade of ...