 |
Division of Molecular Medicine
General Information |
This site has been renewed and received a new URL.
Please visit the new site at
http://www.kuleuven.be/molmed/.
Most links on this site will direct you to the renewed versions of the former pages.
|
History
Welcome to the website of the Molecular Medicine. Our Division is located at the fifth of the VCTB building of St. Rafael Hospital, Kapucijnenvoer 33, Leuven.
Molecular Medicine is a research consortium consisting of two laboratories (Prof. Zeger Debyser, Prof. Veerle Baekelandt). In 2005, the Division of Molecular Medicine was created in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Medicine. Initially the division had three laboratories (Prof. Zeger Debyser, Prof. Veerle Baekelandt, Prof. Myriam Witvrouw). In 2007 the laboratories of prof. Witvrouw and prof. Debyser merged in one group. In 2008 prof. Witvrouw chose to continue her carrier at Boehringer Ingelheim in Canada.
Close collaborations exist with the laboratory for Biomolecular Dynamics of K.U.Leuven (Prof. Yves Engelborghs, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and Prof. Marc De Maeyer, biomolecular modelling) and with the Imaging Center of UZ-K.U.Leuven (Prof. L. Mortelmans, Prof. K. Van Laere, non-invasive imaging of small animals).
Research interests and scopes
Each participating laboratory has its own specific technology platform. The research laboratory of Prof. Zeger Debyser is specialised in the development of lentiviral vectors, a basic tool for gene transfer and gene therapy. This technology can be applied for treatment and disease modelling of neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease), the research topic of Prof. Veerle Baekelandt. Lentiviral vector technology is primarily based on the genetic properties of HIV, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus that causes AIDS. The laboratory of Zeger Debyser focuses on different aspects of HIV integration and the development of new inhibitors and inhibitory strategies for AIDS.
