I’ve always been fascinated by explorers and discovery, from archeologists discovering a new tomb in Egypt, to teams of biologists reaching into desolate areas. During my Bachelors at KU Leuven, I got fascinated by the cellular and molecular world and decided to explore this world further in my theses. During my Bachelors’ thesis, I touched upon the intricacies of the eukaryotic cell, which I explored further in the context of a parasitic cell during my internship at the Pasteur Institute and on a more fundamental level in the lab of Joris Winderickx during my Masters’ thesis. It was around this time that I decided that I really wanted to continue my career in research and explore areas that contribute on a fundamental level to furthering knowledge and combatting the disease. From my Bachelors, I understood that bio-informatic and data-analytic know-how should be crucial abilities in the skillset of a biologist, and although I added multiple bio-informatic courses to my masters, I felt that there is still a lot of room left for growth.

Since the Cell2Cell network offered PhD positions with integrative applications, in areas where my interests and strengths lie, I felt that I could learn a great deal as a researcher and in bio-informatics and it would help to prepare me for a potential career as an independent researcher. The project in the team of Angela Taddei introduced me to the field of epigenetics and enables me to sharpen my bio-informatic skillset, while its topic also perfectly aligns with my goals as a biologist.

I like to travel, climb and enjoy cultural activities and I believe that my stay in Paris will more than allow me to enjoy these.