prof. Jo Vandesompele (PhD)
- Principal investigator - OncoRNALab, Center for Medical Genetics (UGent)
- Full professor (Department of Biomolecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, UGent)
- Co-founder pxlence
- Co-founder and Director Scientific Initiatives at Biogazelle, now a CellCarta company
- Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at InActiv Blue
- Co-founder of CRIG & former chairman of the CRIG steering committee (2016-2019)
Research focus
The lab’s research aims to exploit RNA for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. The various research lines converge on studying the role of non-coding RNA (long non-coding RNA and circular RNA) in cancer, on the utility of extracellular nucleic acids in liquid biopsies, and on the spatial analysis of nucleic acids in tumor tissue. Apart from providing novel fundamental insights, the research also aims for clinical applications. Through a combination of high-throughput (functional) genomics technologies, custom method development, and bio-informatics tools, we seek to answer various fundamental and translational research questions.
Biography
Jo Vandesompele obtained a Master of Science in Bioscience Engineering (1997) and a PhD in Medical Genetics (2002). Since 2007, he is professor in Functional Cancer Genomics and Applied Bioinformatics at Ghent University. He is author of more than 250 scientific articles in international journals, including some pioneering publications in the domain of nucleic acid quantification and non-coding RNA. His H-index is 79, with over 48,000 citations (Web of Science, March 2023). Jo is a frequently invited speaker at international conferences and symposia. Jo was one of the CRIG co-founders and chairman of the first steering committee (2016-2019).
Research team
- prof. Tom Van Maerken (PhD), post-doctoral fellow
- dr. Anneleen Decock (PhD), post-doctoral fellow
- Jill Deleu, doctoral fellow (promotors prof. Bram De Wilde, prof. Tom Van Maerken)
- Kathleen Schoofs - doctoral fellow (promotor prof. Katleen De Preter and prof. Piet Pattyn)
- Marieke Vromman - doctoral fellow (co-promotor dr. Pieter-Jan Volders)
- Annelien Morlion - doctoral fellow (promotor prof. Pieter Mestdagh)
- Jasper Verwilt - doctoral fellow (co-promotor prof. Pieter Mestdagh)
- dr. Philippe Decruyenaere (MD) - doctoral fellow (co-promotor prof. Fritz Offner)
- Franco Alexander Poma Soto - doctoral fellow (co-promotor prof. Pieter Mestdagh)
- Hanne Van Droogenbroeck - doctoral fellow (co-promotor prof. Bram De Wilde and prof. Tom Van Maerken)
- Nurten Yigit, technician
- Kimberly Verniers, technician
- Justine Nuytens, technician
- Jasper Anckaert, bioinformatician
- Eveline Vanden Eynde, technician
Key publications
- Unequivocal delineation of clinicogenetic subgroups and development of a new model for improved outcome prediction in neuroblastoma. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2005
- Antitumor activity of the selective MDM2 antagonist nutlin-3 in a chemoresistant model of neuroblastoma. Journal of the Nat Cancer Institute, 2009
- Predicting outcomes for children with neuroblastoma using a multigene-expression signature: a retrospective SIOPEN/COG/GPOH study. Lancet Oncology, 2009
- The miR-17-92 microRNA cluster regulates multiple components of the TGF-beta pathway in neuroblastoma. Molecular Cell, 2010
- Melanoma addiction to the long noncoding RNA SAMMSON. Nature, 2016
- Charting Extracellular Transcriptomes in The Human Biofluid RNA Atlas. Cell Reports, 2020.
- Whole transcriptome profiling of liquid biopsies from tumour xenografted mouse models enables specific monitoring of tumour-derived extracellular RNA. NAR Cancer, 2022.
- Longitudinal evaluation of serum microRNAs as biomarkers for neuroblastoma burden and therapeutic p53 reactivation. NAR Cancer, 2023.
Contact & links
- postal and laboratory address: Medical Research Building 1 (MRB1) (entrance 34)
- office address: Blok B, ground floor, room 100.017 (entrance 36), campus UZ Gent, Corneel Heymanslaan 10, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
- Google Scholar
- Publons