Background pattern of a brain with neural connections

Team Gijsbers

Viral vector toolbox for Parkinson’s Disease research

2026-Present

We will generate viral vector tools for target knock down (KD), knock out (KO) and overexpression (OE). To this end, proprietary production platforms for lentiviral (LV) and recombinant adeno-associated viral (rAAV) vectors and virus-like-particles (VLPs) are established at the Leuven Viral Vector Core (LVVC). VLP-CRISPR tools will be used for target KO and will be validated in clonal cells, iPSCs and brain-on-chip. LV and rAAV vectors for target OE and KD will be validated in iPSCs, brain-on-chip models and in rodent brain with a focus on correct localization and levels of KD, respectively. Tools will be distributed via the LVVC.

Tags
3D human PD chipBrain-on-a-chipDisease modelsViral vectors

Leadership

Rik Gijsbers

Rik Gijsbers

Lead PI (Core Leadership)

Veerle Baekelandt

Veerle Baekelandt

Co-PI (Core Leadership)

Veronique Daniels

Veronique Daniels

Co-PI (Core Leadership)

Peter Loskill

Peter Loskill

Co-PI (Core Leadership)

Wouter Peelaerts

Wouter Peelaerts

Co-PI (Core Leadership)

Contributions

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Accolades

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In the News

Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s and The Michael J. Fox Foundation Expand Global Research Initiative with $261M Investment Toward Personalized Treatments

Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s and The Michael J. Fox Foundation Expand Global Research Initiative with $261M Investment Toward Personalized Treatments

04/28/2026 — Today, Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP), in partnership with The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF), announced $261 million in new grant funding for the Collaborative Research Network (CRN) to map the biological blueprint of Parkinson’s disease and build a standardized toolkit of global research resources that are needed to turn discoveries into treatments.

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