VIB-KU Leuven Center for Neuroscience

Paper alert! 💻 How many cells do you need to train reliable deep learning models in regulatory genomics? We asked how data quality, sequencing depth, and dataset size affect training of sequence-to-function models from scATAC-seq. Out now www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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YouTube video by VIB-KU Leuven Center for Neuroscience VIB-KU Leuven Center for Neuroscience

🚀 Proudly introducing the VIB-KU Leuven Center For Neuroscience, a merger of the two former VIB research centers VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research and Neuro-Electronics Research Flanders (NERF)! Our new motto: Bold Science, Real Impact.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhaq...

🎉 Proud moment for our Center
Pierre Vanderhaeghen received the 2025 Fyssen Foundation International Prize, also awarded this year to Franck Polleux (@columbiauniversity.bsky.social) for work on the neurobiological foundations of human cognition. 🧠🏆
Congratulations!
#FyssenPrize #Neuroscience #VIB

Researchers from the De Strooper Lab just revealed how #lecanemab ’s Fc fragment is key to activating microglia to clear toxic amyloid plaques. It’s the first direct mechanistic evidence for this class of Alzheimer’s therapies, published in Nature Neuroscience.
Read more: tinyurl.com/44x5bxjt

Apply for our International PhD Call! Discover the 11 new projects for this edition and apply until the 20th of November.
🔗More info: cbd.sites.vib.be/en/phdcall2026

Find out more about our single cell facilities 👉 lnkd.in/ddW7sNHq

Take a Virtual Tour ▶️ lnkd.in/d3dyrr9C

#neuroscience #brain #research #technology #science #singlecell

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Each week, we'll introduce you to some of the incredible technology and people driving research at the VIB-KU Leuven Center For Brain & Disease Research and beyond through state-of-the-art facilities and expertise. (2/3)

YouTube video by VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research Vlog Single Cell

⚡ It's #TechnologyTuesday, and Suresh Kumar Poovathingal and Kristofer Davie are taking us on a whirlwind tour around the Single Cell units! 🌪️ (1/3)

youtu.be/paqikg_sK5M

🏆 Bart de Strooper, M.D., Ph.D., is the recipient of the Khalid Iqbal Lifetime Achievement Award. #AAIC25

@ucl.ac.uk‬ @cbdresearch.bsky.social @ukdri.ac.uk

🌟 We warmly welcomed this scientific delegation from the KOREA-EU Research Centre! It was a fantastic opportunity to forge connections between biotechnology researchers based in South Korea and Belgium.

Find out more 👉 lnkd.in/ekmNA27S

A new review from our center, published by Céline Vrancx and Wim Annaert, sheds more light into how APP-CTF toxicity could be an overlooked factor in the pursuit of preventive therapies for #Alzheimer's disease 🧠
Read it here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
@cellpress.bsky.social

Last piece of work by Urban lab @viblifesciences.bsky.social @cbdresearch.bsky.social @nerflabs.bsky.social

🌟 Congratulations to the laureates of the 2025 Queen Elisabeth Medical Foundation for Neuroscience scientific awards, which include two researchers from our Center!

Find out more 👉 cbd.sites.vib.be/en/news#/new...

New prize at our center!
Our Liu Lab received the Outstanding Early Investigator Award, by the Sleep Research Society.
This distinction was awarded to Joana Dopp, former PhD student at our center, following their publication on Nature Neuroscience. Congratulations!
cbd.sites.vib.be/en/news#/new...

RNA-binding proteins in ALS and FTD: from pathogenic mechanisms to therapeutic insights - Molecular Neurodegeneration Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are devastating neurodegenerative disorders with overlapping clinical, genetic and pathological features. A large body of evidence...

'RNA-binding proteins in #ALS and #FTD: from pathogenic mechanisms to therapeutic insights'

Jens Rummens & Sandrine Da Cruz @cbdresearch.bsky.social
#FrontotemporalDementia #TDP43

molecularneurodegeneration.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

🌅 We warmly invite you to New Horizons in Neuroscience, a conference to explore the latest in neurodegeneration technologies, models, and treatments!

🗓️ 9-10 October, 2025
📍 Leuven, Belgium

Find out more 👉 www.vibconferences.be/events/new-h...

✨ Congratulations are in order for our FWO Postdoctoral Fellows — Artemis Koumoundourou, Gemma Martinez Rivas, and Ramon Duran-Romaña!

🧠 Through FWO's support, these scientists will continue to study the fundamental mechanisms driving brain development and functioning in health and disease.

🤸‍♂️ We once again teamed up with TAJO vzw — an organization combatting early school leaving, and allowing youth from vulnerable home situations to enter society autonomously and prepared — to inspire young people to get interested in neuroscience!

Find out more 👉 cbd.sites.vib.be/en/news#/new...

🐦 Early bird registrations for the TRP conference #TRP2025 — organized by the Thomas Voets Laboratory of Ion Channel Research — are now open!

📅 Save the Date: 17-19 September 2025
📍 Location: Leuven, Belgium
👉 Find out more here: lnkd.in/dwRpv_sH

📣 New research from the De Wit lab identified a 'molecular break' that regulates synaptic maturation and function. These new findings show how two different proteins — GPR158 and PLCXD2 — interact to form the spine apparatus in developing synapses.

Find out more 👉 cbd.sites.vib.be/en/news#/new...

Thanks for sharing! 🤸‍♂️

Our program included:

🟢 Science talks by Lynette Lim, Pedro Goncalves, Lucia Chavez Gutierrez, and Karl Farrow, coached by Toastmasters Leuven 🎤
🟢 Improvisation from TIM Theater 🎭
🟢 Poster session 🏆
🟢 Brainy Wheel of Fortune 🎡
🟢 Workshop on microaggression by Ferdaous Lahrichi 🌟

🤸 This year's Science Day was as energizing, inspiring, and fun as ever! We teamed up with @nerflabs.bsky.social — another @viblifesciences.bsky.social neuroscience research center, who became our neighbors on the Gasthuisberg campus this year — and enjoyed arguably the best Science Day yet.

We offer:
🟢 A stimulating, international, and inclusive work environment
🟢 Scientific guidance at a high-level
🟢 State of the art research and computing facilities
🟢 A competitive compensation package based on expertise and experience
🟢 Financial support for at least 2 years

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We seek a team player with:
✅ PhD in Computational Neuroscience or similar
✅ Solid publication record
✅ Good programming skills
✅ Strong interest in interdisciplinary work
✅ Prior experience in deep learning, and/or the statistical analysis of neural data

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💡 The successful candidate will use these data to map and stratify the disease into specific subclasses. They would develop AI algorithms to train models that predict whether individuals are prone to develop disease.

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🧫 We have generated brain-on-chip models that mimick human striatal function, and are using these to study the mechanisms of Parkinson’s disease. The system enables us to measure single neuron electrophysiology as well as complex network dynamics in the context of specific perturbations.

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🚀 #WeAreHiring! The Verstreken and Goncalves labs are looking for a postdoctoral researcher to investigate computational methods for neurodegeneration research ⤵️

Apply now 👉 lnkd.in/e4Huym6t

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🌟 We welcome João Cardoso, who joined Bethan Burnside in the science communication team at the VIB-KU Leuven Cenrter for Brain & Disease Research this month!

Find out more about communication, outreach and engagement initiatives at our center and get in touch 👉 cbd.sites.vib.be/en/engagement

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Find out more about Neuroengineering 👉 lnkd.in/eeT-wHPs

Take a Virtual Tour ▶️ lnkd.in/e4J54AVS

#neuroengineering #neuroscience #brain #research #technology