Speakers

Ever wake up feeling like you wrestled a bear in your sleep? Lucile Gely is trying to figure out why! As a PhD candidate, she researches how the neurology of our mouth and throat plays a role in sleep apnea. She’s exploring how exercises can retrain the brain’s connection to those muscles and improve our sleep, one tongue exercise at a time! Get ready to discover the surprising power of your mouth-brain connection and transform the wrestly bear into a cuddly teddy! (LinkedIn)

Passionate about the intersection of diet and human health, Elien Alderweireldt delves into the (sub)toxic effects of dietary compounds on human cells. With a master’s in Bioscience Engineering from Ghent University and a PhD exploring the impact of red/processed meat on colorectal cancer cells, she now aims at increasing our understanding on the impact of micro-and nanoplastics on our body. Using advanced cell models and cutting-edge technology, she wants to contribute to food safety and human health. (LinkedIn, Instagram)

Delphine Laboureur performed her PhD at the von Karman Institute (VKI) and ULB, working on industrial accidents (BLEVE and Boilover). She moved to US, at Texas A&M University, to work on process safety related topics like LNG pool fires and dispersion, incident investigation, or offshore safety. In 2015, she came back to VKI as a research engineer and was appointed professor in 2018. Her current research areas focus on dispersion of solid and gas, nuclear safety, but also experimental characterization of heat exchangers in aeronautics. She is also diversity and inclusion officer at VKI and vice-president of BeWise.

Mariam is a 1st year PhD candidate at KU Leuven, working on instrumentation for astronomy. Her passion is to learn more about the worlds outside our solar system, by helping the new observatory MARVEL achieve a better measurement precision. When she’s not thinking about instruments, Mariam likes to draw webcomics, play board games and play volleyball or go hiking.

Emilie Despontin is doing her PhD in theoretical and mathematical physics at ULB. Since childhood, she has been fascinated by physics and the universe. Her passion lies in understanding and explaining the enigmatic nature of black holes. Beyond research, she believes that science should not be confined to academia but shared with the world, inspiring curiosity and wonder. She gives workshops at the Université des Enfants (UDE), sharing her passion for science to younger generations, encouraging them to explore the mysteries of the universe. She is also part of the Science & Cocktails Brussels team that brings science and music closer together, through evenings mixing lectures intertwined with music and crazy cocktails. (Instagram)

Julie De Munck is a PhD researcher exploring how curcumin—a natural polyphenol—and its newly developed chemical analogues affect colon cancer cells. Her work relies on advanced cell-based in vitro models to better understand these interactions. She earned her Master’s degree in Bioscience Engineering, with a focus on Cell and Gene Biotechnology (Red Biotechnology: Biomedical), from Ghent University in 2020. Her master's thesis was carried out within the NutriFoodChem research group, part of the Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health. That same year, she joined the same group as a doctoral researcher on a BOF-funded project, and in late 2022, she secured an FWO fellowship to continue her research. Julie's current work is centered on evaluating the anticancer potential of curcumin and related thiazepane compounds. She is developing innovative 3D in vitro models to assess how these compounds may selectively affect colon cancer cells. Her approach combines microscopy, analytical chemistry, and molecular biology techniques to investigate the relationship between molecular structure, bioavailability inside cells, and biological activity.

A Physics graduate, Éléonore Martin currently works as a teaching assistant for the Biomedical Physics practicum, a course taught in the first year of the Biomedical Sciences, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Biology programs. At the same time, Éléonore is preparing a PhD within the biomedical physics unit, focusing on the magnetic properties of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles and their application as contrast agents in nuclear magnetic resonance. This research is primarily conducted through Monte Carlo simulations coded in C++. Known for a strong enthusiasm for science and its communication, Éléonore is a naturally curious individual with a broad range of interests beyond the laboratory.

Nora Colson is PhD researcher at Hasselt University, exploring how to produce hydrogen fuel during deep space missions—using an unusual duo: diamonds and cyanobacteria! Her work sits at the intersection of cutting-edge materials and space sustainability, all in the quest to power the future beyond Earth. Besides her daytime work as a researcher, she also loves to bake! She considers herself a researcher by training but a baker by passion.

Dr. Caroline Jonas, theoretical physicist who earned her PhD from the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam, Germany where she studied models of the very early universe. She is now working as a postdoctoral researcher in Atmospheric science at the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy, studying ozone in the atmosphere. She is passionated about gender diversity in science and outreach.

As a Marie Curie Early Stage Researcher at the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium, Anupama K Xavier contributes to advancing the field of atmospheric predictability. Through collaborative work with a dedicated research team, [he/she/they] has helped uncover significant insights into atmospheric blocking and teleconnection patterns—developments that have meaningful implications for improving weather forecasting accuracy. Anupama's academic path in Meteorology, spanning from a master’s degree to a current PhD across two esteemed universities, has provided a strong foundation in statistical data analysis and modeling. These skills have played a key role in the team’s accomplishments, including earning the Outstanding Student Poster Presentation Award, and continue to drive their efforts to better understand climate dynamics and enhance predictive capabilities.