It is with profound sadness that I have learned of the passing of my beloved PhD supervisor, John Gurdon. We have lost a true giant, an incredible mentor, kind and generous, whose contributions to science will inspire generations. He changed my life, and the lives of so many others.

Excited to share our latest News & Views published in Nature! @nature.com
rdcu.be/eI2NJ

Sherif Khodeer and I discuss how stem cell-based embryo models provide evidence that viral DNA sequences that entered the human genome in the past were repurposed to aid early stages of embryonic development.

Excited to share our new paper in Nature Communications @natcomms.nature.com
(www.nature.com/articles/s41...)

We show how cells can sense when individual genes are lost and compensate by upregulating the remaining gene copy.

With Ryan Allsop, Jeffrey Boeren, Beatrice Tan, Joost Gribnau and others.

Exciting postdoc position to study X-chromosome inactivation using stem cell-based embryos models, advanced imaging and single-cell omics at the Pasque lab, University of Leuven – KU Leuven, Belgium. International team, amazing collaborators. Full details: www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jo...

We are hiring a Lab Technician! Join our lab at the University of Leuven - KU Leuven, working on stem cell biology and epigenetics. Perform key molecular/cell biology techniques and manage lab operations. Full/part-time contract. Apply by Sept 30!
More info: www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jo...

Exciting Research Professorship Position in Stem Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Leuven. Amazing research ecosystem, great colleagues, high quality of life, tenure track. For those interested in joining us, please see below:
www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jo...

We are delighted to share our new preprint “X-chromosome upregulation operates on a gene-by-gene basis at RNA and protein levels”.
biorxiv.org/content/earl...

We are excited to host Dr. Maxim Greenberg and Dr. Courtney Hanna this week to kickoff the Leuven Epigenetics Club!

Excited to share that I have been recognized as a 2025 ISSCR Public Service Award Honoree! Read more about the award and my fellow honorees.
www.isscr.org/isscr-news/i...

Excited to share our recent review on extraembryonic mesoderm development, just published in Development!

"Extra embryonic mesoderm during development and in in vitro models."

journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

Happy 600th birthday to the University of Leuven!

“I have always been motivated by other successful women, they challenge and inspire me. I hope one day to be able to inspire other women too. Because there is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish” - Chloé Lorent.

“Science is everyone’s game - driven by diverse minds, not gender. By breaking barriers and embracing equality, we create a future where talent and curiosity lead the way.” - Thi Xuan Ai Pham.

Thi Xuan Ai Pham is a PhD student in our lab working on human naive pluripotent stem cells.

“My passion for research that may impact the health of our population, combined with my role as a mother, is my daily motivation to move from the lab to the minds of our young women and girls, empowering them to shape their future”. - Dr. Marim Solis.

The Pasque lab wishes you and your loved ones a happy holiday season and a wonderful end of year! We are looking forward to an exciting year ahead!

It was a fantastic edition of the 8th Meeting of the Belgian Society for Stem Cell Research in Brussels with stellar speakers including Susana de Sousa Lopes, Jacob Hanna, Florian Merkle, Anchel de Jaime-Soguero and many more. Thank you to all participants. #BeSSCR #StemCells

Totipotency is the ability of a cell to give rise to all cell types, both embryonic & extraembryonic. But how do we test this in human cells? Check out Box 2: Experimental Criteria to Evaluate Human Totipotency in our recent review: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39366361/