Ellen Saeys

Doctoral fellow – Cell Death Investigation and Therapy (CDIT) Laboratory, Department of Human Structure and Repair, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, UGent
Principal investigator: prof. Dmitri Krysko (MD, PhD)
Research focus
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a clinically approved cancer treatment valued for its minimal invasiveness, low adverse event rate, compatibility with other therapies, and high tumor selectivity. It involves administering photosensitizers that are taken up by cancer cells, which, when irradiated with an appropriate wavelength of light, convert cellular oxygen into cytotoxic reactive oxygen species, leading to cancer cell death. Notably, several photosensitizers induce immunogenic cell death (ICD), a form of cancer cell death that activates the immune system, thereby potentially enhancing treatment efficacy and offering long-term protection against cancer. However, current clinically employed photosensitizers are not designed to induce ICD and can only be activated by wavelengths with limited penetration depth, making PDT unsuitable for treating large or deep-seated tumors.
My research focuses on identifying novel photosensitizers that induce robust ICD and can be activated by light with greater tissue penetration, thereby enhancing PDT's effectiveness in treating infiltrative cancers such as glioblastoma. By studying the biological impact of these novel photosensitizers on glioblastoma cell lines and healthy brain cultures, I aim to gain initial insights into their therapeutic potential for glioblastoma treatment. Additionally, this research explores the use of these photosensitizers in the development of PDT-based dendritic cell vaccines, which will be tested in orthotopic glioblastoma intracranial models alongside standard-of-care treatments, to better reflect the clinical scenario and improve the translatability of the results. With this research, the CDIT aims to advance PDT-based immunotherapeutic strategies to address the urgent need for effective glioblastoma therapies
Biography
- I obtained a Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences summa cum laude in 2024 at the University of Ghent (Belgium), ranking as the highest scoring student in a cohort of 90 graduates.
- I started my PhD under the supervision of prof. Dmitri Krysko (MD, PhD) in October 2024.
Contact & links
- Lab address: Corneel Heymanslaan 10, entrance 46, 4B3, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
- Cell Death Investigation and Therapy Laboratory
- Ellen Saeys is interested to receive invitations for presentations or talks