Laval Lab Annual Teambuilding event!
The Alcatraz escape game in Ghent was a great experience! We all had a chance to work again as a team to escape the prison.
Not everyone made it on time…but we had fun :)
Camille Kaviani received the award for the best research master's thesis during the proclamation ceremony for graduated veterinarians at Ghent University. Congratulations!
Her master's thesis focused on characterising the neuropathogenesis of Porcine Hemagglutinating Encephalomyelitis Virus (PHEV), a swine coronavirus, in vitro. Camille is staying with us for the next 4 years as she is now starting a PhD in the lab on the neuropathogenesis of Canine Distemper virus (CDV), a canine paramyxovirus closely related to Measles virus. This project is funded by FWO.
Welcome to the lab Camille Kaviani and Febe Lippens!
Camille and Febe are new PhD students in the Laval Lab. Camille will investigate the neuropathogenesis and zoonotic potential of Canine Distemper Virus (CDV). Febe will focus on viral-induced proteinopathies in mammals. These projects are funded by FWO and GOA-UGent, respectively.
Welcome to the lab Moloud Jalilishahmansouri!
The Laval is very happy to welcome Moloud ("Arezou") as our new Lab Manager. While managing day-to-day laboratory activities, Arezou will be supporting PhD students and guiding new master students in the lab. She will also take part and provide input to all the ongoing research projects.
Joren's paper got accepted in Viruses!
Joren recently published his master's work performed in the lab of Prof. Nauwynck, demonstrating that spore proteases damage the horse respiratory epithelium and therefore enhance its susceptibility to EHV1 infection. See link: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/16/8/1208.
This is a very nice piece of work, Congratulations !
In my lab, Joren will now characterize the neuropathogenesis of 2 swine viruses in its target host as a new surrogate model to further elucidate the viral hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease in humans. This is part of a GOA project at Ghent University.
The Laval lab has a new office!
Plenty of space to quietly work and welcome new students to the team.
Find us at VRB building entrance 27 (first floor), faculty of veterinary medicine, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke.
FWO junior project awarded in the lab!
This year, the Laval lab has been awarded a 4-year FWO junior grant of €630.000 to support fundamental research on Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) neuropathogenesis and its zoonotic potential. Our team celebrated the exciting news over a Badminton tournament!
September 1st, 2023
Welcome to the lab Sofia Gonzalez and Joren Portaels!
Sofia is a new PhD student in the Laval lab, who will investigate the neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative gene expression profiles and epigenetic changes in mice following HSV1 infection. Her PhD work will be part of a larger project, granted by FWO this year, that focuses on the viral etiology of Alzheimer’s disease.
Joren is a new PhD student, who will work on the pathogenesis of PHEV in the swine. Joren will perform a joint PhD between my lab and Prof. Nauwynck’s lab. His work will be part of our GOA project, awarded by Ghent University this year, that focuses on the impact of peripheral viral infections in the swine central nervous system.
May 31st, 2023
Xixi Kang is awarded the China Scholarship Council (CSC) PhD funding!
Congratulations to Xixi, who was recently awarded the prestigious CSC scholarship for her PhD project on the role of Schwann cells in viral-induced neuroinflammation and Alzheimer’s disease.
The LAVAL lab successfully attended the Belgian Alzheimer Young Research symposium in Mechelen. Great talks and atmosphere and a good opportunity to talk to our colleagues in the field! Thank you to the Stichting Alzheimer Onderzoek Fondation Recherche Alzheimer for the organisation!
This month, the Laval lab has been awarded a 4-year FWO junior grant of € 520 000 to support the lab research on the role of peripheral HSV1 infection and neuroinflammation as potential trigger mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease. The team celebrated this good news at the Christmas market in Ghent!
Welcome to the lab Waqar Zaib!
Waqar is a new PhD student in the Laval lab, who will characterize the viral-induced neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative processes of the swine coronavirus Porcine Hemagglutinating Encephalomyelitis Virus (PHEV) in mice.
Welcome to the lab Xixi Kang!
Xixi is a new PhD student in the Laval lab, who will investigate glia cell activation during peripheral viral infections.
The Laval lab was awarded a 6-year Geconcerteerde onderzoeksacties (GOA) funding from Ghent University for the project titled “Impact of peripheral virus infection on the central nervous system”. This project will be performed in collaboration with the teams of Prof. Luc Leybaert and Prof. Labro at the faculty of medicine and the teams of Prof.Nauwynck and Prof. Favoreel at the faculty of veterinary medicine.
Welcome to the lab Ahmad Mahmoudikouhi!
Ahmad is a new PhD student in the Laval Lab, who will dissect the mechanisms underlying HSV1-induced neuroinflammation in primary mouse PNS neuronal cultures. Ahmad is supported by the Stichting Alzheimer Onderzoek (SAO) foundation for this work.
May 31st, 2022
Ya Gao is awarded the China Scholarship Council (CSC) PhD funding!
Congratulations to Ya, who was recently awarded the prestigious CSC scholarship for her PhD project on the role of HSV1 infection in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. Ya will investigate how HSV1 infection triggers neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in mice.
September 1st, 2021
Welcome to our newest PhD student, Ya!
We are happy to welcome Ya Gao as our newest Ph.D student in the lab! Ya will be working on the neuropathogenesis of HSV1 in mice.
May 1st, 2021
✓ Kathlyn was awarded a starting grant from Ghent University!
