Rik Gijsbers is trained as bioscience-engineer and is professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences at KU Leuven, heading the Laboratory of Viral Vector Technology and Gene Therapy (LMVGT). His lab focusses on viral vector manufacturing and technology development and applications: (i) engineering and installing of viral vector-based tools for gene therapy employing synthetic vectorology, (ii) development of cell models and gene therapeutic approaches for rare genetic disorders (STAT1 GoF, cystinosis), (iii) innovative viral vector production approaches improving upstream and downstream processing.
In addition, he is responsible for the day-to-day management and scientific innovation of the Leuven Viral Vector Core (LVVC since 2009), a platform for target identification and validation, to develop both cell and small animal models using different viral vector-based technology platforms (RV, LV and rAAV).
He acts as the DC8 Main Supervisor.