The technology developed by Professor Thomas De Beer and his team from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences may play a key role in containing future virus outbreaks. ‘Continuous spin freeze-drying’ may facilitate and accelerate the development, production, storage and transport of, for instance, mRNA vaccines.
They number 15,000, the colony of zebrafish in the Core Zebrafish Facility Ghent at the site of UZ Gent. They are nurtured and cared for under optimum conditions as laboratory animals by the researchers of the Centre for Medical Genetics. “But research into genetic disorders is not all we do here,” professor Paul Coucke emphasises.
Holidays! You're already looking forward to all the delicious things you'll eat while travelling, but wait ... Can you just eat anything? "There are some foods that you need to be a bit careful with.” Professor Sarah Gabriel tells us how to avoid taking an extra passenger back home
Creating new pieces of bone, muscle, skin or fat with a 3D printer to heal injuries. Sounds futuristic? The first steps are already being taken today! We spoke with plastic surgeon and professor Phillip Blondeel about his research into tissue engineering.
Sunshine and holidays equal a tanned skin for many. But we need to adjust our ideas about tanning, according to dermatologists Lieve Brochez and Isabelle Hoorens. Our behavior towards the sun and UV will cause more and more cases of skin cancer in the coming years.
A recent study into Parkinson’s disease has shown that a stool transplant may constitute a new and valuable treatment of the disease. “It offers a potentially safe, effective and cost-efficient way of alleviating the symptoms and improving the quality of life of millions. A 'bacterial pill' might replace the stool transplant in the future. But more research is needed.”
1 in 9 women in Belgium will develop breast cancer. The treatment is often accompanied by the injection of a radioactive liquid and blue dye that can turn the breast blue for years. To avoid this side effect, Ghent University researcher Loren Deblock is working on a new contrast agent made of... nanocrystals.
HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, surfaced in the eighties. Long gone are the times when the virus was a sure death sentence. Still, even after all these years the stubborn stigma that surrounds HIV persists. Why is that and what can be done about it?
Researchers around the world are looking for innovative ways to detect and treat breast cancer. So are experimental oncologist An Hendrix and medical oncologist Hannelore Denys, two top researchers from Ghent.
Imke Kissel researches unilateral vocal cord paralysis and wants to develop therapies tailored to the needs of patients.
We all worry from time to time. It can even be good to clear the head, says professor Ernst Koster (department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology). However, it can also get out of hand.
Do you suffer from hay fever? You are not alone: no less than 1 in 3 people worldwide have an allergy, particularly to pollen or dust mites. For people aged between 20 and 45 this amount is as much as 40%. “In fact, we expect this number to keep growing in the future”, predicts professor Philippe Gevaert (department of Head and Skin), clinical head of the Ear, Nose and Throat department at Ghent University Hospital. “But, don’t worry: a solution is on the way.”
