David M Wilson III

DNA, our genetic blueprint, is susceptible to a large number of modifications, including those arising from errors during the normal copying of the genome, spontaneous decay, reactions with natural chemical species (e.g., reactive oxygen species), and exposure to environmental genotoxic agents, such as sunlight or air pollutants.  Persistent damage to DNA can adversely affect normal cellular processes, namely DNA replication or RNA transcription, leading to permanent genetic changes or metabolic stress.  Such outcomes can result in cell death, transformation, or senescence, fates that underlie degenerative diseases, cancer, and aging.  To avert the deleterious consequences of DNA damage, cells have evolved a collection of integrated systems that sense, respond to, and repair or resolve genotoxic damage or genomic stress.  Inherited or sporadic defects in these systems result in cancer predisposition, neurodegenerative disease, immune dysfunction, and premature aging, to name a few.  The aim of the GRAND Team is to (i) define the biochemical and molecular mechanisms of key DNA repair systems, particularly those related to oxidative DNA damage, (ii) determine how defects in these processes give rise to degenerative disease and aging, and (iii) develop mechanism-based therapeutic approaches that preserve genome integrity and promote healthspan, i.e., the time one spends in good health.

Active Funding Support

Alzheimer Research Foundation (SAO-FRA, https://www.stopalzheimer.be/; 3 yr project, starting 2023)

Aβ-Tau cascade promotes oxidative stress and genomic damage that drives neuronal cell loss: DNA repair mechanisms as therapeutic targets in Alzheimer disease

The Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO; https://www.fwo.be/en/; 4 yr project, starting 2025)

Resolution of genomic stress as a mechanism to avert gut disorders involving enteric nervous system defects

Prof. Dr. Wilson was born in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois in the United States of America.  He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in both Biology and Political Science from Bucknell University.  He did his PhD doctoral studies at Loyola University – Stritch School of Medicine in the Molecular Biology Program under the direction of Dr. Mark R. Kelley.  He conducted post-doctoral training in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Toxicology at Harvard University – School of Public Health under the guidance of Dr. Bruce Demple.  His independent research efforts began at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the Biology and Biotechnology Research Program in California, before moving to the National Institute on Aging (Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health) in Baltimore, Maryland, where he was a Senior Investigator and Chief of the Repair of Endogenous DNA Damage Section for approximately 17 years.  Prof. Dr. Wilson moved to Belgium with his family in 2019 and began his current position at Hasselt University in the Neurosciences Group shortly thereafter.

Current Professional Service

Reviews Editor / Associate Editor, Cellular of Molecular Life Sciences

Reviews Editor, Frontiers Aging

Hasselt University Representative to European Molecular Biology Laboratory

Past Professional Service

Editorial Board, International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Associate Editor, Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis

Editorial Board, Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences

Editorial Board, Carcinogenesis

Associate Editor, Mechanisms of Aging and Development

Editorial Board, Current Aging Science

Councilor & Executive Board Member, Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society

I have served as an external reviewer for too many manuscripts and grant applications, the latter of which has involved participation on several funding-agency grant panels (e.g., National Institutes of Health and Dutch Research Council (NWO)).

Have been an invited speaker at over 40 international conferences and over 50 universities/institutions world-wide, recently operating on the organizing committee and as session chair for the 7^th US-EU Conference on Repair of Endogenous DNA Damage held at Stony Brook University in 2022.  The 8^th Conference is currently in the works, check it out here: https://www.endodnadamage.com/

McNeill, D.R., Whitaker, A.M., Stark, W.J., Illuzzi, J.L., McKinnon, P.J., Freudenthal, B.D., and Wilson III, D.M. Functions of the major abasic endonuclease (APE1) in cell viability and genotoxin resistance. Mutagenesis 35:27-38, 2020

Mombeek, L.M.M., Boesmans, W., and Wilson III, D.M. Genomic stress in diseases stemming from defects in the second brain. Neurogastroenterol. Motil. July 14:e14860, 2024 (online ahead of print).

Tiwari, V., Kulikowicz, T., Wilson III*, D.M., and Bohr*, V.A. LEO1 is a partner of Cockayne syndrome B protein in response to transcription-blocking DNA damage. Nucleic Acids Res. 49:6331-6346, 2021 (*co-corresponding authors)

Scheijen, E.E., Veeningen, N., Duwé, S., Ivanova, A., Van Broeckhoven, J., Hendrix, S., and Wilson III, D.M. Temporal and spatial pattern of DNA damage in neurons following spinal cord injury in mice. J. Biomed. Sci. 32:12, 2025.

Wilson III, D.M., Cookson, M.R., Van Den Bosch, L., Zetterberg, H., Holtzman, D.M., and Dewachter, I. Hallmarks of neurodegenerative diseases. Cell 186:693-714, 2023.

Full details here.

Post-Doctoral Scientist(s)

 Luidy Issayama

 Brazil

 Aβ-Tau cascade promotes oxidative stress and   genomic damage that drives neuronal cell loss  in Alzheimer disease

 2024-Present

PhD Student(s)

 Lobke Mombeek

Belgium

 The role of the DNA repair protein Apex1 in enteric nervous system development and function

 2023-Present

Senior Master Students

Irem Kural
Michele Pascale

Alumni (from most recent)

Hasselt University

PhD Student(s):

 Elle Scheijen

 Netherlands

The Involvement of DNA Damage and DNA Repair in the Pathophysiology of Spinal Cord Injury (BOF) 
 2020-2024

Senior Master students: Anton Brosens, Anouar Dlatat, Shannen Leroi

Junior Master students: Bente Van den Broeck, János Csonka, Monika Studennykova, Thomas Kimpen, Dylan Kidjemet, Charlotte Peetersem, Chelsea Hayen, Lobke Mombeek, Annelore Bogaert, Yakum Bertrand Nkeh

Bachelor students: Yuno Aliberto, Stef Swijsen, Christella Igiraneza, Yoni Van Reeth, Clara van Meegan, Janne Verreycken, Nicola Bestetti

Technical interns:  Helene Vranken

Technical staff: Jolien Neven

Visiting researchers: Manuela Cabua, Luidy Kazuo Issayama

National Institute on Aging/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Post-doctoral scientists: Vinod Tiwari, Arina Perez, Rachel Abbotts, Teruaki Iyama, Jennifer Illuzzi, Peter Sykora, Mengxia Li, Naga Vyjayanti Vaddadi, Brian Berquist, Yun-Jeong Kim, Avanti Kulkarni, Heng-Kuan Wong, Jinshui Fan, Lam Nguyen, Laura Schild, Masood Hadi, Peter Beernink, Byung-In Lee

Student researchers: William Nathan, Aleah Scott, Christopher Mays, Mary Higgins, Tyler Golato, Boris Brenerman, Royce Hamilton, Nnejiuwa Ibe, Nicola Harris, Jakita Baldwin, Kevin Yang, Hanh Nguyen, Elizabeth Gillenwater, Avinash Narayana, Troy Sofinowski

Visiting researchers: Mariana Bonjiorno Martins, Jinsil Kim, Mattia Poletta, Rachel Abbotts, Agathi-Vasiliki Goula, Daemyung Kim

Technical staff: Daniel McNeill, David Maciejewski, Brent Hamaoka, Jan Erzberger

Not only great science, but the fastest at deciphering the escape room (record of the month in 2022).  Me, Elle Scheijen, Luidy Issayama, and Shannen Leroi.

Holiday dinner at Juan Luis in Hasselt.  Me, Elle Scheijen, Luidy Issayama, and Helen Vranken.

Holiday dinner 2023 at De Orangerie in Hasselt. Lobke Mombeek, Elle Scheijen, me.

In November of 2024, Ms. Elle Scheijen successfully defended her PhD Thesis, becoming the first graduated doctoral student of the GRAND team.

Holiday dinner 2024 at Enigma in Hasselt.  Myself, Luidy Issamaya (back as a post-doc), and Lobke Mombeek.

We are always looking for highly motivated students and post-docs.  If you are interested in joining the GRAND Team, please send an email directly to Prof Wilson.  Those seeking graduate or post-doctoral opportunities should include a current CV, list of references, and a description of your relevant research experience and scientific interests.  Please be prepared to apply for fellowships to join the laboratory.