Meet the team and our research interests
Come say Hello!
Nelly Saenen
Postdoctoral assistant
There is more microplastic in our environment than there are stars in the milky way.
Karolien Bijnens
Postdoctoral assistant
Planaria and their bacteria – What happens to the microbiome during stress and what does this mean for the planarian?
Frank Van Belleghem
Guest staff member
Small in size, big in impact. The potential risks of micro- and nanoparticles for our health.
Rosalva Angulo-Reyes
PhD student
The aim of this research is exploring the links between local water contamination and aquatic ecosystem effects and human health problems.
Sandra De Vos
PhD student
Ingestion is an important exposure route of AgNPs in humans, therefore it is of utmost importance to study the behaviour of AgNP in the GI system...
Martijn Heleven
PhD student
Unravelling the mysteries behind ROS mediated regeneration will be key in understanding stem cell functioning.
Sanah Majid
PhD student
My project aims to understand how exposures in a single and multiple metal pollution settings differentially influence the organisms.
Jan-Pieter Ploem
PhD student
My research aids in the development of an additional alternative model for toxicity screening.
Charlotte Segnana
PhD student
Using Schmidtea mediterranea as an entry point to understand the role of neural signaling in intestinal regeneration.
Inés Tejeda
PhD student
I’m workin with human intestine cell models to understand the effects of micro- and nanoplastics with the objective of having better tools for...
Julie Tytgat
PhD student
Micro- and nanoplastics can be found in all aquatic environments. Yet, information about their impact on living organisms is still lacking.
Margo Witters
PhD student
Knowledge about the possible health effects of environmental nano- and microplastics is crucial to guide proper policymaking.
Natascha Steffanie
Specialised laboratory technician
I provide technical support for the biodiversity and toxicology group.
Ria Vanderspikken
Specialised laboratory technician
I provide administrative support for the biodiversity and toxicology group.