Elise Ferlin

Glioblastoma (GB), the most aggressive primary brain tumor, has a poor median survival of 15 months. The high degree of inter- and intra-tumoral heterogeneity, combined with the plastic nature of GB, has contributed to the failure of nearly all clinical trials over the past 20 years. Nevertheless, many trials have reported small subgroups of patients exhibiting exceptional responses, indicating that better selection procedures could substantially improve clinical outcomes. Precision oncology aims to identify the most effective treatment option for each patient by analyzing tumor-specific biomarkers. However, this approach relies on pre-treatment “static” features e.g. genomic aberrations, epigenetic patterns and histological markers. These fail to capture the dynamic functional behavior of tumor cells, limiting their success in GB clinical trials. Functional precision oncology (FPO) addresses this limitation by exposing viable GB tumor cells to various treatment candidates and assessing their functional and cellular responses to identify the most suitable treatment for the patient. 
The aim of my research is to preclinically evaluate a functional precision oncology (FPO) platform to guide personalized medicine for glioblastoma. This work will be conducted in close collaboration with KU Leuven and will employ patient-derived xenograft (PDX) rat models to corroborate the in vitro findings in an in vivo context. The outcome could be highly beneficial for GB patients, paving the way for FPO-guided interventional clinical trials and the implementation of a personalized treatment approach. 
 

In 2025 I obtained my Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences with a major in Neurosciences at Gent University
 

• Lab address: 4BRAIN, Campus UZ Gent, C. Heymanslaan 10, The Core, entrance 37a, 9000 Gent, Belgium
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• Elise Ferlin is interested to receive invitations for presentations or talks