From Ideas to Impact: Emerging Health Technologies in Action

1 – 2 Jun 2026 | Brussels, Belgium

Genetics, Reproduction and Development (GRAD) - VUB

University

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About

The Genetics, Reproduction and Development research group is part of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. It is located in the Brussels Health Campus and brings together researchers from the field of genetics, reproduction and developmental biology.

Reproduction and genetics are traditionally strongly intertwined as broader research themes and at our university, with many research groups active in different aspects. We research male reproduction, ovarian function, genetic causes of infertility and poor embryonic development. We also have a long track record, in particular in the development of the pancreas and the regeneration of beta cells in the context of diabetes. The stem cell research within our group uses human embryonic stem cells (hESC) as in vitro differentiation models to better understand our early development, and recently the use of hESC to construct blastoids as models for early implantation has been added.

The group collaborates with Brussels IVF, reference IVF clinic in Europe, and the Centre for Medical Genetics of the UZ Brussel, and brings a lot of expertise in stem cell biology, embryonic structures, fertility preservation and beta cell neogenesis.

Please find more information about our outputs and projects here:https://researchportal.vub.be/en/organisations/genetics-reproduction-and-development/

Areas of Activity

IHI Topic 1: IHI European healthcare incubator networkIHI Topic 2: An AI foundation toxicology model and framework to support waiving a second species in drug safety studiesHORIZON-MISS-2026-02-CANCER-01: Virtual Human Twin (VHT) Models for Cancer Research (RIA)HORIZON_MISS-2027-02-CANCER-01 Leveraging functional genomics to reveal novel targets for cancer treatmentOther

Representatives

Project Manager

Genetics, Reproduction and Development (GRAD) - VUB