News

Sharing our new work in Nature Metabolism: 
VIB researchers and colleagues have discovered a mechanism through which melanoma cells adapt and switch between two major proliferative and invasive states, revealing promising new targets for cancer therapy. The study, published in Nature Metabolism, reveals that alterations in iron metabolism and organelle crosstalk are central to melanoma cell plasticity—a key factor in tumor progression and resistance to treatment. read more

Diede Houbaert defended her PhD thesis on “should I stay or should I go?”: autophagy in lymphatic Endothelial cell biology , lymph node dynamics and Anti tumor immune responses with great success. Congratulations Dr Houbaert!

Read the press release on our article on how PERK promotes lipid transfers between the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria (J Cell Biology)

Congratulations to Maria Livia Sassano for successfully defending her PhD thesis on ER-Mitochondria Contact Sites-Medoated Lipid Transfer:‘DANCING SITES’ BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH. Well done!

Patrizia was co-organizer of the VIB Conference "Recent insights into Immuno-Oncology" in Leuven - read more

Blanca Felipe-Abrio received a postdoctoral fellowship from FWO for her work on the role of PERK in T cells and antitumor immunity. Congrats!

Together with Gabriele Bergers and Colinda Scheele, Patrizia Agostinis obtained an FWO EOS research project grant (in collaboration with University of Liège and UCL) on "Unravelling the molecular programs that control the de novo formation of high endothelial venules"

Nicole Ruffo successfully defended her PhD thesis (June 30,2021) "Linking the Unfolded Protein Response to the pro-inflammatory trait induced by Immunogenic Cell Death"

Patrizia was nominated as honorary member of the Venetian Institute of Sciences, Letters and Arts, one of the most prestigious Italian Academies

Mónica Vara Pérez successfully defended her PhD thesis "BNIP3 in Melanoma: sitting on the Iron Throne" (February 25, 2021)

Our work on ferritinophagy in melanoma by Monica Vara-Perez (EMBO J, 2021) was selected for the FWO- sponsored program “Science Figured Out”, to record a professional video to explain the main finding of this melanoma research to a non-scientific public.

Patrizia was nominated to receive the International Cell Death Society (ICDS) Outstanding Achievement Award in 2020.

Patrizia was co-organizer of the EACR Conference 2020 ‘A matter of Life and Death; Mechanisms, Models and Therapeutic Opportunities’, Bergamo, Italy

Patrizia joined the VIB Center for Cancer Biology as Group Leader

Together with Gabriele Bergers, Patrizia was co-organizer of the 'Women in Science' conference in Leuven (Belgium)

Patrizia was co-organizer of the EMBO workshop on Phagocytosis ’From the ER to the plasma membrane and beyond: molecular mediators of immunogenic cancer cell death', Ghent, Belgium

Patrizia was organizer of the 25th Euroconference on ‘Cell Death and Immunity’; from molecules to translational medicine’, Leuven, Belgium

Patrizia was invited to give a lecture at the Nobel Conference "The Cell Cycle and Cell Death in Disease", at the Nobel Forum - Karolinska Institutet (June 8-11, 2021)

Patrizia was elected an Honorary Member of the European Academy for Tumor Immuology (EATI) in 2016 - info

Patrizia was nominated as Honorary Member of AcademiaNet, Leading Women in Science