Download Geert Leroux

Geert Leroux-Roels
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
NAME
POSITION AND AFFILIATION
LEROUX-ROELS Geert
Director, Centre for Vaccinology
Ghent University and Hospital
De Pintelaan 185, B-9000
GENT
Belgium
EDUCATION/TRAINING
INSTITUTION AND LOCATION
DEGREE
YEAR(s)
FIELD OF
STUDY
Ghent University
MD
1976
medicine
Ghent University
Ph.D. (1)
1981
Immunology,
clinical chemistry
Ghent University
Ph.D. (2)
1986
immunology
Research Interest ( not more than 100 words):
In the past 25 years, Geert Leroux-Roels has been studying the human immune response
towards the hepatotropic viruses HBV and HCV. His team contributed to the understanding of
the mechanisms of non-responsiveness to hepatitis B vaccine. Since the discovery of HCV in
1989, Dr. Leroux-Roels and colleagues are examining the human immune response towards
HCV in order to understand the mechanisms underlying resolution and persistence. Recently a
small animal model (human liver in uPA-SCID mouse) has been developed that allows for the
“in vivo” study of HBV and HCV infections and the evaluation of novel antiviral therapies.
Key words: HBV, HCV, immune response, vaccine.
Selected Publications (5 publications):
1.
Depraetere S, Verhoye L, Leclercq G, Leroux-Roels G.
Human B cell growth and
differentiation in the spleen of immunodeficient mice. J. Immunol 2001;166:2929-2936.
2.
Meuleman P, Libbrecht L, De Vos R, de Hemptinne B, Gevaert K, Vandekerckhove J,
Roskams T, Leroux-Roels G. Morphological and biochemical characterization of a
human liver in a uPA-SCID mouse chimera. Hepatology 2005;41:847-856.
3.
Meuleman P, Libbrecht L, Wieland S, De Vos R, Habib N, Kramvis A, Roskams T,
Leroux-Roels G. Immune suppression uncovers endogenous cytopathic effects of the
hepatitis B virus. J Virol 2006;80:2797-2807.
4.
Lindenbach B, Meuleman P, Ploss A, Vanwolleghem T, Syder A, McKeating J, Lanford R,
Feinstone S, Major M, Leroux-Roels G, Rice C. Cell-culture grown hepatitis C is
infectious in vivo and can be recultured in vitro. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA
2006;103:3805-3809.
5.
Leroux-Roels I, Borkowski A, Vanwolleghem T, Dramé M, Clement F, Hons E, Devaster
J-M, Leroux-Roels G. Antigen sparing and cross-reactive immunity with an adjuvanted
rH5N1 prototype pandemic influenza vaccine. The Lancet (in press)