name of programme short description coordinator(s) participating labs/pis Immunology and Microbiology The study of infectious diseases and the immune system is vital to our society as we continue to fight new threats arising from emerging infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases, allergic inflammation and cancer. The main objective of this theme is to train PhD students on topics in Immunology and Microbiology. An interdepartmental advanced teaching program will be provided, encompassing current aspects in the field of virology, bacteriology and parasitology, molecular and cellular immunology, transplantation immunology, tumor vaccination immunology, allergic inflammation and autoimmunity. Patrick Matthys (Immunology) and Sandra Liekens (Microbiology) Dept of Microbiology and Immunology Virology and Chemotherapy: G. Andrei, D. Daelemans, K. Dallmeier, S. Liekens, L. Naesens, K. Vermeire Clinical and Epidemiological Virology: M. Van Ranst Molecular Bacteriology: T. Economou, J. Raes, L. Van Mellaert Clinical Bacteriology and Mycology: K. Lagrou Immunobiology: P. Matthys, G. Opdenakker, P. Van den Steen Molecular Immunology: S. Struyf, P. Proost Genetics of Autoimmunity: A. Liston Experimental Transplantation: B. Sprangers Clinical Immunology: D. Bullens Pediatric Immunology: C. Wouters Dept of Clinical and Experimental Medicine Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders (TARGID): G. Matteoli
Dept of Neuroscience Neuroimmunology section: A. Goris Experimental Neurosurgery and Neuroanatomy: S. De Vleeschouwer Dept of Development and Regenerations Skeletal Biology and Engineering Research Center: R. Lories The program includes (1) thematic seminars, (2) guest lectures, (3) workshops, (4) research based data sessions and (5) journal clubs and/or help in teaching activity. The program is organized as to provide training, customized to the specific scientific interests of the students. Students set their own combination of training activities but have to take into account the minimum numbers of hours in each activity, and need to follow in total 60h. On a template students need to fill in for each of the activities the date, title and lecturer, and - if appropriate - the attended time. training activities 1. Thematic seminars (18 to 30 hours) (announced via Toledo) Approximately 20 seminars of each 3.0h will be organised (in parallel with advanced courses or hot topics in respectively the track of Microbiology and in the track of Immunology in the Master of Biomedical Sciences), and will be given by various PI s or senior postdoc s. Students have to make a choice to participate to 6-10 seminars during the first three years of their PhD. Topics of the seminars may vary each year. In 2015-2016 the topics will be: seminars in Microbiology: (1 st semester, on Friday 09.00 12.00) Please contact Prof D. Daelemans if you want to attend Dirk.Daelemans@rega.kuleuven.be 02.10.2015 Applications of fluorescence microscopy to HIV research (D. Daelemans) 09.10.2015 Virus (HIV) entry as therapeutic target (K. Vermeire) 16.10.2015 Fungal infections: novel diagnostic tools and antifungal agents (K. Lagrou) 23.10.2015 Biofilm-related infections (L. Van Mellaert)
30.10.2015 Epidemiology of respiratory viruses (M. Van Ranst) 06.11.2015 The human microbiome in health and disease (J. Raes) 13.11.2015 Use of bacteria in cancer therapy (L. Van Mellaert) 20.11.2015 Protein secretion: from mechanism to exploitation (T. Economou) 27.11.2015 Tumor-associated viruses (G. Andrei) 04.12.2015 Novel approaches for anti-influenza virus therapy (L. Naesens) seminars in Immunology (2 nd semester, on Thursday, from 9:00 12:00) Place: auditorium 04.330 (Level 4 of O&N4) Coordination: P. Matthys, Patrick.Matthys@rega.kuleuven.be 11.02.2016 How Regulatory T cells work (A. Liston) 18.02.2016 Unraveling the immunopathogenesis of Multiple sclerosis through genetic studies (A. Goris) 25.02.2016 Mixed Hematopoietic Chimerism: mechanisms and possibilities (B. Sprangers) 03.03.2016 "Airway cells: immune regulation at the outside barrier..." (D. Bullens) 10.03.2016 Intestinal immune tolerance (G. Matteoli) 17.03.2016 Vaccines against malaria: how far are we? (P. Van den Steen) 24.03.2016 Alternative methods to inhibit chemokine activity for treatment of inflammation (P. Proost) 14.04.2016 Spondyloarthritis, a disease at the crossroad of inflammation and mechanobiology (R. Lories) 21.04.2016 Immunotherapy for cancer: hype or emerging option (S. De Vleeschouwer) 28.04.2016 Chemokines in angiogenesis-related diseases (S. Struyf) 2. Guest lectures (6 to 12 hours) The students need to attend lectures, and these need to be different from the lectures listed in the truncus communis (each lecture=1 hour) Academic researchers are often invited by the PI s to give a lecture in the field of Immunology or Microbiology. With some of the speakers, small group classes of the PI and the students can be organized in order to meet the professor and foster extensive interaction (in this case students need to list
the attended hours). 3. Workshops (0 to 12 hours). In consultation with their promoter, PhD students may attend workshops, if they meet with the guidelines for registration to the workshop. As an example workshops on new software programs for analyzing flow cytometric data, are regularly organized. (students need to list the name, date and attended time of/to the workshop) 4. Research based data sessions (6 to 20 hours), PhD students can attend the research seminars of their colleagues. The presentations will be organised either in thematic half-day sessions (organised with a frequency of 6/year at GHB) or a few times a month (Rega Institute). PI s will coordinate the sessions but the students need to actively participate in questioning their colleagues. Each presentation is considered as 1 hour. 5. Journal clubs or help in teaching activity (6 to 20 hours) PhD Students will be able to actively participate in Journal clubs organized in the different departments or laboratory sections. The aim of the journal clubs is to discuss with colleagues and PI s the results of a recently published scientific paper. Each presentation is considered as one hour. PhD students may also provide help with teaching activity in for instance practical courses or work sessions (for each active participation, students need to list the name, date of the teaching activity, and attended time) Other activities (optional): visit to industrial companies Participation of PhD students to national and international scientific meetings in the field of Immunology and Microbiology will be encouraged. The aim of this part of the program is to
introduce pharmaceutical or biotech companies that exist in Belgium. We focus on companies involved in the discovery and development of compounds for the treatment of infectious, autoimmune or other inflammatory diseases and cancer. This will reciprocally help those companies in the recruitment of good postdocs.