Danielle Delombaerde

• 18 December 2024
• Time: 5 PM - 7 PM
• Venue: auditorium Kinsbergen - UZA or online​
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. C. Vulsteke, prof. H. Prenen and prof. M. Peeters

Frank Mulindwa

• 12 December 2024
• Time: 6 PM - 8 PM
• Venue: online​
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. N. Brusselaers, dr. B. Castelnuovo and dr. J.M. Schwarz

Janah Vandenhoeck

• 11 December 2024
• Time: 5 PM - 7 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Gebouw Q - D.Q.002 Promotiezaal
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. Van Meerbeeck J, prof. Op de Beeck K and prof. Van Camp G

Lotte Meert

• 3 December 2024
• Time: 12.45 PM - 14.45 PM
• Venue: online​
• Joint PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. M. Meeus and prof. R. Smeets (UMaastricht)

Elke Loots

• 29 November 2024
• Time: 5 PM - 7 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Gebouw Q - D.Q.02 Promotiezaal, registration via this link​
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. B. Van Rompaey, prof. T. Dilles and prof. M. Morrens

Stephen Jada

• 29 November 2024
• Time: 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Gebouw O - D.O.O3 or online​
• Joint PhD defence
• Supervisor: Em.prof. R. Colebunders

ABSTRACT

Strengthening Onchocerciasis Elimination Efforts Key to Reducing Epilepsy Cases in Endemic Areas

A PhD study of Stephen Jada of Amref Health Africa has further solidified the link between onchocerciasis, commonly known as river blindness, and epilepsy, including nodding syndrome, in endemic regions of Central and East Africa. The findings underscore the urgent need to enhance onchocerciasis elimination measures to mitigate the devastating health and socioeconomic impact of this neglected tropical disease.

Onchocerciasis, caused by the nematode Onchocerca volvulus and transmitted through blackfly bites, is a leading cause of eye and skin disease in affected communities. Recent studies have highlighted the high prevalence of epilepsy, in areas with suboptimal or non-existent onchocerciasis control measures. While epidemiological evidence strongly suggests the association between onchocerciasis and epilepsy, the precise mechanisms causing onchocerciasis-associated epilepsy (OAE) remain unclear.

The PhD study, of Stephen Jada, conducted in onchocerciasis-endemic villages in South Sudan, provides vital insights into the burden of OAE and evaluated the impact of targeted elimination interventions.

The study confirmed the high prevalence of epilepsy and other onchocerciasis-related morbidities such as skin and blindness, in onchocerciasis-endemic areas in South Sudan with very weak onchocerciasis elimination programs. Moreover, the study highlighted the negative perceptions about epilepsy, creating barriers to care. A stark lack of treatment options further exacerbated the burden on affected individuals and families. A combination of bi-annual mass distribution of ivermectin (treatment of onchocerciasis) and a novel community-based vector control method (“Slash and Clear”) was evaluated in Maridi County from 2019 to 2022. Post-intervention surveys revealed a marked reduction in the annual incidence of epilepsy and nodding syndrome, as well as lower onchocerciasis infection rates in children.

This comprehensive research reaffirms the link between onchocerciasis and epilepsy and highlights the critical role of integrated elimination strategies. Strengthening interventions such as increased ivermectin coverage, community-based vector control, and education campaigns can significantly reduce the incidence of epilepsy in endemic areas.

These findings call for international support to scale up onchocerciasis control programmes, ensuring that vulnerable communities no longer face the dual burden of river blindness and epilepsy.

Thomas Pattyn

• 28 November 2024
• Time: 5 PM - 7 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Gebouw O - D.O.O6 or online​
• Joint PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. F. Van Den Eede, em.prof. B. Sabbe, prof. B. Penninckx and prof. D. Veltman

Olujuwon Ibiloye

• 21 November 2024
• Time: 3 PM - 5 PM
• Venue: Campus ITM - aula Janssens - Sint Rochusstraat 43 - 2000 Antwerpen or online​
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. J. van Olmen, prof. C. Masquillier, dr. T. Decroo and dr. S. van Belle

SUMMARY

Key populations (KP; female sex workers, men who have sex with men, transgender people, and persons who inject drugs) are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS and are at increased risk of contracting HIV compared to the general population. They are underserved and have limited access to quality HIV prevention, care and treatment services. To optimize access to quality HIV services among KP and improve treatment outcomes (such as retention-in-care, medication adherence, and viral suppression), the World Health Organization recommended community-based approaches to HIV service delivery. However, to inform the successful roll out and scale-up of community-based ART service delivery models for KP (KP-CBART), there is a need to study long-term outcomes and to explain the dynamics between contextual factors and mechanisms that influence the outcomes for successful implementation. The overall aim of this PhD research work is to use the realist evaluation approach to evaluate the performance of KP-CBART models for KP in Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African countries. Findings from this evaluation will provide answers to the following questions: “what works?”, “how and why does it work?”, “for whom”, and “in what circumstances (context)”?.

ART uptake, linkage to ART, retention in care, viral load coverage and viral load suppression are less good in KP-CBART than in the general population, and fall short of the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets. This calls for further differentiation of KP-CBART to improve the outcomes of individual clients and programmes. Also, to achieve the UNAIDS 95-95-95 target, the policy context needs to change to remove access barriers such as criminalization policies against same-sex, drug-use, and sex trade.

On the other hand, clinical outcomes in KP-CBART were at least as good as those in facility-based care. The thesis provides an empirically tested hypothesis (programme theory) that where HIV-positive KP receive ART in a safe place, KP clients will adhere to treatment and will be retained in care because they feel safe and trust the healthcare providers. Also, we show that the involvement of KPLHIV in the design, planning and implementation of HIV services improves medication adherence and retention in care because they perceive HIV services to be KP-friendly. Moreover, continuous psychological and social support enhances retention.

In conclusion, this research shows that clinical outcomes in KP-CBART need to improve. Providing a safe space, participation, and social support are ways to strengthen utilization of care.

Marieke Robbrecht

• 20 November 2024
• Time: 6 PM - 8 PM
• Venue: Universiteit Gent - auditorium A - 1st floor K3, entrance 42 - Corneel Heymanslaan 10, 9000 Gent or online after registration​
• Joint PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. S. Weyers, prof. M. Embo and prof. A. Mulder

Filip Haenen

• 18 November 2024
• Time: 5 PM - 7 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Gebouw Q - D.Q.002
• PhD defence
• Supervisor: prof. I. Rodrigus

Huyen Thi Thanh Nguyen

• 6 November 2024
• Time: 11:30 AM - 01:30 PM
• Venue: online via BBCollab
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. J. Wens, prof. M. Valcke, prof. G. Tsakitzidis and prof. T. Minh Nguyen

Nora Weiss

• 4 November 2024
• Time: 4 PM - 6 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - building Q - aula Promotiezaal
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: em.prof. P. Van de Heyning, prof. V. Van Rompaey and dr. S. Dazert

Melanie Hoste

• 23 October 2024
• Time: 4 PM - 6 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - building O - aula D.O.O8
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. S. Anthierens, em.prof. H. Goossens and dr. S. Tonkin-Crine

Patrick Lauwers

• 2 October 2024
• Time: 5 PM - 7 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - building O - aula O6
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. E. Dirinck and prof. J. Hendriks

Claudia Cavaggion

• 30 September 2024
• Time: 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Gebouw R - aula R2 or online​
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. F. Struyf and prof. A. Luque Suarez

Melanie Perik

• 30 September 2024
• Time: 4 PM - 6 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Gebouw Q - aula D.Q.002
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. B. Loeys, prof. A. Verstraeten, prof. L. Van Laer

Sophie Vervullens

• 24 September 2024
• Time: 10 AM - 12 AM
• Venue: Maastricht University, Aula, Minderbroedersberg 4-6, 6211 LK Maastricht, Nederland of online​
• Joint PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. M. Meeus, prof. J. Verbrugghe, prof. R. Smeets

Jente Boen

• 23 September 2024
• Time: 4.30 PM - 6.30 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Gebouw O - aula O6 ​
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. E. Van Craenenbroeck, prof. A. Gevaert and prof. V. Segers

Summary

This thesis provides insights in the dynamical role of miR-181c-5p in the healthy and failing heart, and investigates the cardioprotective/therapeutic potential of miR-181c-5p inhibition in heart failure with diastolic dysfunction. We paid particular attention for its fibrotic-regulating activity, its spatiotemporal nature, and its systemic effects on comorbid organs (kidney).

First, we evaluated the cellular endothelial localization of miR-181c-5p in healthy cardiac tissue. With a combined detection of miR-181c-5p via fluorescent in situ hybridization, and the endothelial protein marker isolectin via immunofluorescence, we demonstrated that miR-181c-5p was only located in a restricted group of cardiac blood vessels. This non-ubiquitous expression pattern supports the variable cell/time/tissue-dependent endothelial function of miR-181c-5p reported in endothelial studies and suggests that contextual data might be a pivotal factor for the interpretation of miRNA activity and their spatiotemporal mode-of-action.

As a result of the spatiotemporal nature of miRNAs, we studied the phenotype/time-related cardiac expression of miR-181c-5p in heart failure in historical samples of four rodent heart failure models. Analyses demonstrated that cardiac miR-181c-5p was reduced in the cardiometabolic heart failure phenotype with preserved ejection fraction (ZSF1 rats) and pressure overload-induced heart failure phenotype with reduced ejection fraction (TAC mice) only at later timepoints of heart failure progression. This points towards a potential role for miR-181c-5p in chronic remodeling processes (like cardiac fibrosis) or hypertension-related renal dysfunction, regardless of the ejection fraction. As we expected an upregulation, our observations challenge the predicted cardioprotective effect of miR-181c-5p inhibition in the heart.

To evaluate the impact of miR-181c-5p inhibition and its pathway regulation in the heart, we performed a target interaction analysis of heart failure-related genes upon miR-181c-5p inhibition in cardiac cell types and healthy cardiac tissue. We identified highly complex target interactions between Lats1, Vegfa, and Smad7 that are prone to spatiotemporal regulation and differ between dosages, cell types, in vitro, and in vivo setups. These results highlight the strong dynamic role of miR-181c-5p in the heart with cell-dependent actions, and support a potential role in cardiac fibrosis.

Finally, we tested the hypothesis that inhibition of miR-181c-5p is cardioprotective in a rodent heart failure model with diastolic dysfunction, that it affects myocardial fibrosis, and that the effect on comorbid organs, like the kidney, should be taken into account. Cardiac data showed a mild cardioprotective effect of miR-181c-5p inhibition on heart failure development in a three-hit mouse model of heart failure with diastolic dysfunction, partly by attenuating cardiac fibrosis through regulation of Tgfbr1-pathway. However, systemic miR-181c-5p inhibition tripled the mortality rate with increased occurrence of renal thrombotic microangiopathy and induced severe renal damage (glomerular damage, fibrosis) in both healthy and heart failure mice. We discovered that miR-181c-5p inhibition had different targets in the kidney: Tgfbr1 signaling was unchanged, but Vegfa expression was halved in kidney. It is likely that our results underestimate the actual effect of miR-181c-5p inhibition on the heart due to interference with renal damage, however, the anti-fibrotic potential of miR-181c-5p inhibition proposes an interesting candidate for future therapeutic approaches in the heart.

Lien Van Laer

• 23 September 2024
• Time: 4 PM - 6 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - building O - aula O5 or online​
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. L. Vereeck, prof. V. Van Rompaey and prof. A. Hallemans

Gils Roex

• 20 September 2024
• Time: 4 PM - 6 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Gebouw O - D.O.O1
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. S. Anguille, prof. E. Lion

Ine Huybrechts

• 16 September 2024
• Time: 5 PM - 7 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - building Q - Promotiezaal or online​
• Joint PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. S. Anthierens (UA), prof. P. Raeymaeckers (UA), prof. E. Verté (VUB) and prof. A. Declerq (KULeuven) 

Liesbeth Van Hijfte

• 29 August 2024
• Time: 6 PM - 8 PM
• Venue: UGent, Auditorium 3 Suzanne Lilar, Blandijn, Campus Boekentoren, Blandijnberg 2, Gent
• Joint PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof B. Willekens, prof G. Laureys

Gregory De Meyer

• 22 August 2024
• Time: 4 PM - 6 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - building Q - Promotiezaal
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. P. Jorens, prof. V. Saldien, dr. T. Schepens

Yanina Dockx

• 9 July 2024
• Time: 3 PM - 5 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Building Q - D.Q.002
• PhD defence
• Supervisor: prof. S. Stroobants, prof. M. Huizing

Sam Tilborghs

• 3 July 2024
• Time: 5 PM - 7 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Building O - aula O5 ​
• PhD defence
• Supervisor: prof. S. De Wachter

Timia Van Soom

• 26 June 2024
• Time: 4 PM - 6 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Building Q - D.Q.002
• PhD defence
• Supervisor: prof. E. van Breda, prof. N. Gebruers, prof. W. Tjalma

Katleen Janssens

• 25 June 2024
• Time: 5 PM - 7 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Building Q - D.Q.002
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. M. Peeters, prof. G. Van Camp, prof. K. Op de Beeck

Esra Ekinci

• 20 June 2024
• Time: 5 PM - 7 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Building O - aula O7 or online​
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. H. Theeten, prof. P. Beutels and prof. S. Malhotra

Michiel Tubeeckx

• 19 June 2024
• Time: 5 PM - 7 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Building O - aula D.O.1 or online​
• PhD defence
• Supervisor: prof. H. Heidbuchel, prof. V. Segers, prof. G. De Keulenaer

Mekdes Gurara

• 19 June 2024
• Time: 4 PM - 6 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Building ​
• Joint PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. Y. Jacquemyn and prof V. Draulans

Hielko Miljoen

• 17 June 2024
• Time: 5 PM - 7 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Building Q - Promotiezaal
• PhD defence
• Supervisor: prof. H. Heidbuchel

Ann Sterckx

• 12 June 2024
• Time: 5 PM - 7 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Building O - aula O8 ​
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. H. Keune, em.prof. R. Remmen and prof. K. Van den Broeck

Claudia Cornelis

• 11 June 2024
• Time: 5 PM - 7 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Building Q - Promotiezaal or online​
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: em.prof. W. Hulstijn, prof. M. Morrens and em.prof. B. Sabbe

Thijs van der Zijden

• 7 June 2024
• Time: 3 PM - 5 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Gebouw Q - Promotiezaal 
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. T. Menovsky and prof. P. Parizel

Liedewei Van de Vondel

• 6 June 2024
• Time: 2 PM - 4 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Building Q - Promotiezaal
• PhD defence
• Supervisor: prof. J. Baets, prof. V. Timmerman

Peter Niemegeers

• 5 June 2024
• Time: 4 PM - 6 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Building Q - Promotiezaal
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: em.prof. B. Sabbe and em.prof. W. Hulstijn

Phuong Bich Tran

• 4 June 2024
• Time: 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Building Q - Promotiezaal or online​
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. J. van Olmen, prof. G. Van Hal and prof. P. Beutels

Kasper Favere

• 31 May 2024
• Time: 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Building Q - Promotiezaal
• PhD defence
• Supervisor: prof. H. Heidbuchel, prof. PJ. Guns and prof. J De Sutter (UGent)

Katrin Gillis

• 28 May 2024
• Time: 4 PM - 6 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Gebouw O - aula O7 ​
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. P. Van Bogaert, dr. L. Van Diermen, prof. S. Verhaeghe and dr. D. Lips

Baptiste Oosterlinck

• 24 May 2024
• Time: 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Gebouw O - aula O3
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. B. De Winter, prof A. Smet

Xavier Biardeau

• 21 May 2024
• Time: 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
• Venue: Université de Lille, Pôle Recherche, Salle des Thèses, 1, Place de Verdun, 59000 Lille or online​
• Joint PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. S. De Wachter and prof. P. Vermersch

Ynke Larivière

• 30 April 2024
• Time: 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Building O - aula O1
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. P. Van Damme, prof. JP. Van geertruyden en prof. H. Muhindo

Francis Somville

• 30 April 2024
• Time: 5 PM - 7 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Building O - aula O5
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. E. Franck and prof. P. Van Bogaert

Trésor Zola

• 30 April 2024
• Time: 3:15 PM - 5:15 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Building O - aula O1
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. P. Van Damme, prof. JP. Van geertruyden en prof. H. Muhindo

Kuni Vergauwen

• 25 April 2024
• Time: 4 PM - 6 PM
• Venue: Maastricht, Minderbroedersberg 4-6
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. M. Meeus, prof. R. Smeets, prof. I. Huijnen

Laura Téblick

• 24 April 2024
• Time: 5 PM - 7 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Building Q - Promotiezaal Q.002 or online​
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. S. Van Keer, prof. P. Delputte, prof. A. Vorsters

Hannah Zaryouh

• 11 March 2024
• Time: 4.30 PM - 6.30 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Building Q - room D.Q.002 (promotiezaal)
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. F. Lardon, prof. A. Wouters, dr. J. De Waele

Nina Redzic

• 8 March 2024
• Time: 5 PM - 7 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Building O - aula O8 or online​
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. JP. Bogers and prof. D. Vanden Broeck

Eline Simons

• 6 March 2024
• Time: 5 PM - 7 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Building O - aula O1​
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. M. Alaerts, prof. B. Loeys and dr. D. Schepers

Patricia Da Torre Lopes

• 6 March 2024
• Time: 4 PM - 6 PM
• Venue: Aula Arenbergkasteel, Kasteelpark Arenberg 1, 3001 Leuven or online (PIN: 994074)
• Joint PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. J. Vander Sloten, prof. J. Bosmans, prof. J. Sijbers and prof. P. Van Herck

Abstract

About 5 million people are diagnosed with valvular heart disease (VHD) every year in the United States. The most prevalent VHD is mitral regurgitation (MR) and its incidence is expected to rise as a consequence of the progressive increase in life expectancy. Standard of care consists in the surgical repair or replacement of the mitral valve and is associated with excellent clinical outcomes. However, about half of the patients are refused surgery due to the presence of comorbidities and the prohibitive risk associated with such invasive procedures.
Less invasive catheter-based therapies are a promising alternative for this patient population and have been the subject of intense research in the past decade. Nevertheless, there are multiple challenges involved in the minimally invasive delivery of a device to the mitral valve, closely linked to the highly complex and dynamic nature of the valve anatomy, and the large inter-patient variability in terms of morphology, calcium distribution and mechanisms involved in the valvular disease.
In the absence of direct visual access to the heart, medical imaging plays a crucial role in the pre-interventional planning of transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) and repair (TMVr) procedures. Dynamic imaging, such as transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) and computed tomography (CT), is key to assess if a patient is eligible for such procedures. Detailed image analysis is performed to determine the most suitable device to be implanted, as well as to estimate the device's optimal position and orientation such that adequate anchoring and minimal interference with the surrounding anatomical structures are guaranteed. This thorough anatomical assessment is performed by a limited number of highly trained professionals. Nonetheless, the evaluation of the mitral valve for the full cardiac cycle can quickly amount to more than an hour. As research on transcatheter mitral valve devices evolves, and the clinical trial results support the transition to commercialization, the number of patients receiving such devices is expected to rapidly increase. Automation of the pre-interventional planning is, therefore, of extreme relevance when aiming at fast, precise, and repeatable patient assessment methodologies. The overall aim of this thesis is the exploration of image processing technologies for accurate patient assessment before TMVR/r procedures. More specifically, we addressed two main aspects of the patient-specific planning, namely the mitral annulus evaluation and the mitral leaflet characterization.
First, one single-phase and three multi-phase statistical shape models (SSMs) of the left heart chambers were generated based on 4D CT images of 50 patients. All models were obtained upon image segmentation and surface optimization. Surface correspondence was subsequently achieved through the adaptation of a warping method which ensures that corresponding points belong to the same heart structure. The single-phase model was generated for the end-diastolic phase. The multi-phase SSMs consisted of one biphasic model including the end-diastolic and mid-systolic phases, and two models comprising ten cardiac phases, one employing image registration and the other employing a fitting approach in order to extract the left heart shapes of the intermediate cardiac phases. The performance of the resulting SSMs is in line with state-of-the-art methods, despite the reduced number of subjects included, suggesting that the use of surface-based shapes can contribute to more accurate models. The increase of the number of cases is planned to confirm this hypothesis and further improve the predictive capabilities of the models.
Subsequently, the best performing SSM was used to automatically detect anatomical landmarks used in pre-interventional TMVR/r measurements. The proposed method was validated against a manual approach performed by three experts. The annular diameters, area and perimeters showed high agreement with the manual measurements, with the largest discrepancies observed in the anterior portion of the mitral annulus. The adoption of a D-shaped annulus representation in alternative to the anatomical saddle-shaped curve, as recently proposed for the planning of TMVR procedures, results in excellent agreement between the proposed approach and the ground-truth measurements.
Finally, a segmentation algorithm to extract the mitral leaflets from TOE images was developed. The proposed method employs particle systems and aims at representing the thin valve leaflets in both open and closed configurations and providing information on the leaflet thickness. The results suggest that accurate representations of the mitral leaflets can be obtained. Furthermore, a correlation between particle strength and leaflet thickness was found, but further work is required to fully characterize this correlation.
In conclusion, this thesis is a step forward in advancing transcatheter therapies, with specific focus on mitral valve repair and replacement. By automating the rigorous pre-interventional planning essential for successful outcomes, we anticipate that TMVR/r procedures will become more prevalent through the inclusion of a sizeable patient population currently being denied surgical treatment.

Cédric Neutel

• 5 March 2024
• Time: 5 PM - 7 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Building O - room D.O.O5
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. PJ. Guns, prof W. Martinet

Wakjira kebede Deyyas

• 21 February 2024
• Time: 4 PM - 6 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Building R - room R.008
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. A. Van Rie, prof. G. Abebe and prof. E. Gudina

Dorien Dombrecht

• 16 February 2024
• Time: 5 PM - 7 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Building O - room D.O.O6​
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. E. van Breda, prof. U. Van Daele, prof. PJ. Guns

Vannarath Te

• 16 February 2024
• Time: 2 PM - 4 PM
• Venue: ITM, Aula Janssens, Sint-Rochusstraat 43, 2000 Antwerpen or online​
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. J. van Olmen, prof. E. Wouters, prof. W. Van Damme and dr. Ir Por

Aggrey Mukose

• 14 February 2024
• Time: 4 PM - 6 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Gebouw R - room R.0O3 or online​
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. JP. Van geertyrudyen and prof. H. Bastiaens

Anita Mesic

• 8 February 2024
• Time: 11 AM - 1 PM
• Venue: ITM, Aula Janssens, Sint-Rochusstraat 43, 2000 Antwerpen or online​
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. J. van Olmen, prof. L. Lynen, dr. T. Decroo and dr. K. Ritmeijer

Thibaut Vanbaelen

• 31 January 2024
• Time: 3 PM - 5 PM
• Venue: ITM, Aula Janssens, Sint-Rochusstraat 43, 2000 Antwerpen
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. E. Florence, prof. C. Kenyon and prof. V. Verhoeven
  

David Ritchie

• 29 January 2024
• Time: 5 PM - 7 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Gebouw O - aula O3 or online
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: Prof G. Van Hal and prof. S. Van den Broucke

Naomi Aerts

• 25 January 2024
• Time: 5 PM - 7 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Gebouw Q - Promotiezaal​
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. H. Bastiaens, prof L. Peremans and prof. P. Van Bogaert

Tom Vermeulen

• 19 January 2024
• Time: 5 PM - 7 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Gebouw Q - Promotiezaal 
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. R. van der Mast, prof. B. Sabbe

Eline Vermeiren

• 12 January 2024
• Time: 4 PM - 6 PM
• Venue: Campus Drie Eiken - Gebouw O - aula O3 or online​
• PhD defence
• Supervisors: prof. S. Verhulst, prof. B. De Winter and prof. K. Van Hoorenbeeck