Keynote lectures
9:00 - Welcome
9:30 – Keynote lecture I 'Commanders of immunity: Dendritic cells against cancer'
Guest speaker: Prof. Damya Laoui (Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium)
Prof. dr. ir. Damya Laoui is a leading researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and the Flemish Institute of Biotechnology (VIB). She heads the Cellular and Molecular Immunology research group, which focuses on developing innovative strategies to prevent cancer recurrence and metastasis.
A key area of her work involves dendritic cells, specialized immune cells that play a central role in coordinating immune responses. Acting as “commanders of immunity”, dendritic cells capture tumor antigens and present them to T cells, triggering a targeted anti-tumor response. Professor Laoui’s team is pioneering personalized dendritic cell vaccines. The approach uses a patient’s own dendritic cells, which are extracted, trained to recognize tumor-specific markers, and then reintroduced into the body. The goal is to empower the immune system to eliminate cancer cells and establish long-term immune memory, offering a treatment with fewer side effects and tailored to each patient’s unique tumor profile.
10:00 – Keynote lecture II 'Shared environments, shared risks: Environmental pollutants and reproductive health across species'
Guest speaker: Dr. Rebecca Blanchard (University of Nottingham, United Kingdom)
Assistant prof. dr. Rebecca Blanchard is based at the University of Nottingham within the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science. Her research focuses on understanding how environmental pollutants - particularly chemical contaminants - affect reproductive health in animals and, by extension, humans.
Dr. Blanchard uses species such as dogs and horses as sentinel models since they share similar environmental exposures with humans. A distinctive aspect of her work is the emphasis on studying chemical mixtures rather than isolated compounds, reflecting real-world conditions where combined exposures may amplify reproductive risks.
14:25 – Keynote lecture III 'How machine perfusion preservation is changing surgical practice in liver transplantation'
Guest speaker: Prof. Robert Porte (Erasus MC Rotterdam, The Netherlands)
Prof. dr. Robert Porte is a professor of surgery and a transplant surgeon at Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, specializing in hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery. He is a former Secretary General of the European Liver and Intestine Transplantation Association and past President of the Netherlands Transplantation Society. In 2023, he received the Distinguished Hepatology Award from the Netherlands Association for the Study of the Liver in recognition of his lifetime achievements.
His research focuses on machine perfusion, an advanced technique for preserving and transporting donor organs by circulating a specialized solution through their blood vessels. Compared to traditional cold storage, machine perfusion offers significant advantages: it enables viability assessment and extended preservation outside the body, which can increase the number of usable organs and reduce complications such as biliary issues and early graft dysfunction.
In his presentation, Professor Porte will highlight the potential of approaches like hypothermic oxygenated machine perfusion to improve outcomes, particularly for high-risk grafts from donors after circulatory death. These innovations are transforming liver transplantation and paving the way for safer, more effective procedures.
16:30 – Keynote lecture IV 'Beyond compliance: the ethics and practice of animal experimentation'
Guest speaker: Dr. Stef Aerts (Odisee University of Applied Sciences, KU Leuven, Ghent University, Belgium)
Dr. Stef Aerts, trained in bioengineering sciences, is a researcher and lecturer with extensive experience in ethics, topical issues, and laboratory animal sciences. He serves on multiple ethical committees in the animal sector and academia, chairs the Flemish Laboratory Animal Commission, and co-founded the Institute for Law and Ethics in Veterinary Medicine at Ghent University.
His lecture focuses on how ethical reflection can and should go further than simply meeting legal requirements. Drawing on real-world cases from research and education, Dr. Aerts will discuss the tensions between scientific objectives, animal welfare, and public expectations, and how ethical review processes can support responsible decision-making. The lecture will invite participants to critically reflect on their own practices and consider how an ethics of care, transparency, and societal engagement can shape the future of animal experimentation.