Vincent Timmerman
Group Leader
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2162-0933
Science
I am full professor at the University of Antwerp (UA).
The Peripheral Neuropathy Research Group started in 1996 with mapping and
identifying genes associated with inherited peripheral neuropathies. We study
the effect of mutations on the normal functioning of genes in neuronal and
non-neuronal cell lines, including neurons differentiated from human induced
pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). This information is compared to clinical,
neurophysiological and neuropathological data which are essential for
genotype/phenotype correlations. We make use of transient and stable
transformations, but also of the Crispr/Cas9 genome editing technology. We
gained knowledge with diverse microscopy technologies and have phenotyped -in
house made- mouse and Drosophila models for peripheral neuropathies. The
construction of transgenic models is complementary to the clinical and
cellular research, and enables to unravel the pathomechanisms for sensory
and/or motor neuropathies. So far, I supervised 10 postdocs and 15 PhD students
(4 on-going PhDs). I am a lecturer and supervisor of bachelor/master students
at the UA. I recently became a partner in the UA Research Excellence Center
(OEC µNeuro) on: ‘Multidimensional analysis of the nervous system in health
and disease’. I am an active partner in the H2020 Solve-RD programme (Solving
the unsolved rare diseases, 2018-2022, http://solve-rd.eu/). I am a member of
the research committee of the European NeuroMusuclar Center (ENMC, https://www.enmc.org/),
and SAB member of the MRC Center for Neuromuscular Diseases (London-New
Castle, UK) and of the Inherited Neuropathy Consortium - Rare Disease Clinical
Research Consortium (INC-RDCRC, Miami, USA). I am the secretary of the CMT and
related disease consortium (CMTR) within the Peripheral Nerve Society
(2016-current, https://www.pnsociety.com/).
Links to education,
research, service provision and publications: https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/staff/vincent-timmerman/research/ https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/research-groups/peripheral-neuropathies-group/about-us/members/