Bart Ghesquière

Prof. Bart Ghesquière is an expert technologist heading the VIB – KU Leuven Metabolomics Expertise Center since 2014. B. Ghesquière was trained as a biotechnologist at the University of Ghent and worked with Prof J. Vandekerckhove and Professor K. Gevaert on the development of chromatographic technologies linked to state-of-the-art mass spectrometry for the study of protein modifications linked to oxidative stress and protein N-glycosylation for his PhD and postdoc until 2010. In 2011, he joined the team of Prof Rod Levine (NIH, NHLBI, Bethesda, US) to apply his technologies for the quantification of methionine oxidation onto heart ischemia. For his work at NIH, he received the Orloff Science award. In 2012, Prof Peter Carmeliet recruited him to apply his mass spectrometry knowhow to understand how endothelial cells change their metabolism during angiogenesis.

Today he is appointed as Assistant Professor at KU Leuven, and Head of the VIB Metabolomics Expertise Center, leading a team of 11 researchers (1 project manager, 2 expert technicians, 1 senior postdoctoral scientist, 2 data-analysts and 5 Phd students (2 as promotor, 3 as co-promotor)) providing service to metabolomics-oriented research groups as well as developing his own research lines focusing on technology (method development, software and hardware) as well as biology (profiling metabolic disorders/syndrome). The core technology is based on tracer metabolomics providing straightforward insights into the relevant metabolic pathways ("Google Maps of Biochemistry"), as such revealing not only the (in)activity of biochemical paths, but as well their interconnectivity in a wide variety of circumstances.