People

Ken Princen received a Master of Sciences in chemistry from Ghent University in 2017 and a Postgraduate in Business Administration from Hasselt University in 2022. He is currently doing his Ph.D. in the Biomolecule Design Group at Hasselt University. Here he develops dynamic hydrogels to retain stem cells in order to repair damaged tissue after myocardial infarction. His research interests include biotechnology, organic chemistry and tissue engineering.

ORCID: 0000-0002-8526-6099

After obtaining a Bachelor degree in Chemistry at University College Ghent (Belgium) and a Master degree in Chemical Engineering Technology at Ghent University (Belgium), Bram took his first steps in research within the Industrial Catalysis and Adsorption Technology (INCAT) research group (Ghent University) as a scientific assistant on the VLAIO-ICON BIORESAL project. In this project, (modified) oligomeric lignin fractions were investigated as a sustainable alternative for the hazardous phenol in phenol-formaldehyde resins for insulation foams. In addition, efforts were made to explore a safe replacement for formaldehyde in the resin synthesis. After 8 months, Bram started his PhD adventure involving the use of lignin in the development of self-healing oligomeric lignin-based hydrogels with added functionality at the INCAT research group (Ghent University) in collaboration with the Biomolecule Design Group (Hasselt University). In addition, the development of recyclable unsaturated lignin-based polyesters is explored as well in order to broaden the applicability of the lignin biopolymer (in collaboration with the Sustainable Polymer Synthesis group at Maastricht University).

ORCID: 0000-0001-7792-9406

Sander grew up in Maasmechelen (Limburg, Belgium) and received his bachelor's degree in Biomedical Sciences at Hasselt University in 2019. He then worked on stimuli-responsive biopolymer nanocarriers as a part of his master's thesis. After obtaining his master's degree in Biomedical Sciences (Bioelectronics & Nanotechnology) at Hasselt University in 2021, Sander joined the BDG group to work on combining hybrid hydrogels with peptide conjugation for targeted cartilage tissue engineering, where he is co-supervised by Louis Pitet (Advanced Functional Polymers group).

ORCID: 0000-0003-1216-9498

Milan was born in Belgium, but grew up in Abu Dhabi. He obtained his bachelor in biology in 2019 at UHasselt. Following this, he then transitioned to a biomedical sciences to complete a masters degree in bio electronics and nanotechnology, focussing on the synthesis of biopolymer-nanocapsules for targeted drug delivery for his thesis. Within the Pitet group, he is currently focussing on the topic of continuous flow polymerization.

ORCID: 0000-0003-1932-5932

Niels Geysmans obtained his bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences from Hasselt University in 2020. Next, he obtained his master’s degree in Biomedical sciences (Bioelectronics & Nanotechnology) from Hasselt University in 2021. His master thesis was completed in the Biomolecule Design Group, where he focused on the synthesis of a plasmid library for the generation of recombinant elastin-like protein. This work was continued on a voluntary basis until he started his PhD in 2022 under the guidance of Prof. Graulus and Prof. Bito (Laboratory of Cardiovascular Physiology). His project focuses on the development of a dynamic, stimuli-responsive hydrogel to be used as a scaffold for stem cells in a stem cell therapy for myocardial infarction.

ORCID: 0000-0002-5634-2144

Katrijn Kelchtermans obtained her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Hasselt University in 2021. During this period she completed her bachelor’s thesis in the Biomolecule Design Group, focusing on the development of elastin-like proteins for tissue engineering applications. Following this, she completed her master’s degree in Chemistry at KU Leuven in 2023. She performed her master’s thesis in the Laboratory for Polymer Synthesis, where she developed a universal chiral building block for substituents of conjugated polymers. On 1 November 2023, she joined the BDG-group to perform her Ph.D. under the guidance of Prof. Graulus and Prof. Adriaensens. Her project focuses on taming biodegradation in protease-sensitive hydrogels using dissociative bioorthogonal chemistry.

ORCID: 0000-0002-6330-1746

Amelien Vanaenrode obtained her bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Hasselt University in 2021. Her internship and bachelor's thesis was completed in the Biomolecule Design Group. During this period, she focussed on the development of elastin-like proteins for tissue engineering applications. Afterwards, she obtained her master's degree in Chemistry from KU Leuven in 2023. She completed her master's thesis at the Laboratory of Bioinorganic Chemistry (LBC), supervised by Tatjana N. Parac-Vogt, on the topic of the optimization of the catalytic activity of UiO-66 through linker functionalization. On February 16th 2024, she kicked off her PhD research in the Analytical & Circular Chemistry (ACC) and Biomolecule Design Group (BDG) under guidance of Prof. Ir. Dries Vandamme and Prof. Geert-Jan Graulus. In her project, she aims to design and validate amphiphilic proteins for the efficient recovery of microalgae biomass using metal-free flotation technology.

ORCID: 0000-0001-7830-1610

Katrien Derkoningen obtained her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Hasselt University in 2022. Her bachelor’s thesis was completed in the Biomolecule Design Group (BDG), whereby she worked on functional peptides for hydrogel conjugation. Hereafter, she obtained her master’s degree in Materiomics from Hasselt University in 2024. Materiomics is interdisciplinary degree combining chemistry and physics focusing on innovative material science whereby she specialized in health care materials. Her master’s thesis was also performed in BDG, focusing on controlled biodegradation of proteins for tissue engineering applications. In October 2024, Katrien started her Ph.D. in the BDG group under the supervision of Prof. Geert-Jan Graulus. In her project, the goal is to design and evaluate protein-based bio-adhesives for soft tissue applications.

ORCID: 0009-0008-9388-7267

Brent will be awarded a BOF scholarship and will join the group on November 1st.

ORCID: 0009-0008-0231-5299