Expertise

• Bortier Hilde

  Anatomy and Embryology

  Technique

  Histology, immunohistochemistry, SEM, TEM

  Users

  Bachelor and Master students Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences

  Keywords

  Matrix components, Atherothrombosis, Angioplasty
• De Neubourg Diane

  Tailored management of subfertile patients will lead to an increased number of couples fulfilling their wish to have a child. Background Infertility is defined as the failure to become pregnant during a twelve months period of regular unprotected sexual intercourse. Infertility and subfertility are affecting 9% of the couples with a desire to have a child. Apart from the obvious reasons for non-conception such as a bilateral tubal block, anovulation, extremely low sperm count or absence of sperm in the ejaculate, severe endometriosis and premature ovarian insufficiency, most couples are suffering from subfertility and this is by far the majority. Subfertile couples have one or more aspects that are under the norm after fertility investigation and these are usually combined with factors such as increasing older age of the women (men), lower sexual intercourse frequency, busy jobs, more planning and lack of time. Although these patients are often categorized as having mild to moderate endometriosis, mild male subfertility or having no obvious reasons for not conceiving (unexplained or idiopathic infertility), this in itself is usually not the explanation for their involuntary childlessness. This subfertility is explained by the fact that reproduction is a matter of chance depending on the subtle balance between success and failure of complex and mostly poorly understood sequential processes that may lead to a pregnancy such as spermatogenesis, oogenesis, ovulation, sexual intercourse, transport of gametes, fertilization, embryogenesis and last but not least implantation. Besides the patient population with a clear indication for treatment all other couples (the majority) are facing subfertility rather than infertility. This poses a tremendous challenge to the treating physician to balance his or her advice between expectant management or active treatment such as intra-uterine insemination (IUI) or IVF/ICSI.The decision for one or the other depends on numerous factors whereby scientific information and patient preferences should lead to the best option for the couple. What we have been underestimating is that in our continuous strive to increase the quality of our treatment, patients may experience the biggest difficulty in “holding on” to the therapy and discontinuation or dropout from treatment is underestimated. Discontinuation is to a large extent explained by the burden of the IVF/ICSI treatment whereby the scientific community is making an important effort to establish a decrease in side effects such as ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) and emotional distress. Objectives The research I want to continue and develop focusses on both improvement of efficacy and safety but also be patient centered by taking into account patient’s preferences to keep our patients “on board”. As part of the research project “How does detection of DNA damage in sperm influence the patient’s chance of conception? “we will investigate the role of sperm DNA fragmentation as a sperm function test with the potential to discriminate and select couples with optimal chances for IUI. A Belgian multicenter study will be started and coordinated by myself to investigate the dropout rate in case of the availability of cryopreserved embryos in a large Belgian ART population. Moreover, we aim to investigate the patients’ reasons behind postponing or discontinuing the transfer of cryopreserved embryos to increase the compliance of these often “good prognosis” patient population. We will embark on a study where we investigate whether the digital preconceptional lifestyle assistant in fertility treatment can be a trustworthy toolbox in assisting patients during their treatment and increasing cumulative ongoing pregnancy rates.

  Technique

  Measurement of sperm DNA fragmentation Male infertility accounts for nearly 20-70% of diagnoses whilst most of male factor infertility cannot be treated adequately. The current diagnosis of male infertility is based on semen criteria updated by the WHO in 2010. These guidelines would consider a man normal with reference values of greater than 15 million sperm, greater than 4% normal morphology, and 32% progressive motility. Although the WHO classification suggests accuracy through a methodology harmonized across laboratories, the relevance for the choice of treatment and the predictive value for an infertile couple embarking on medically assisted reproduction is questionable. Numerous studies utilizing different techniques for assessing sperm DNA fragmentation support the existence of a significant association between sperm DNA damage and pregnancy outcomes. Moreover, a significant number of subfertile men have abnormal DNA integrity despite normal semen parameters. The level of DNA fragmentation correlates negatively with pregnancy and delivery in both natural and assisted conceptions. We perform direct DNA fragmentation testing with terminal deoxyuridine nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay on fresh sperm samples both on the total and vital fraction, before and after density gradient . (Punjabi U, Van Mulders H, Goovaerts I, Peeters K, Clasen K,Janssens P, Zemtsova O, De Neubourg D. Sperm DNA fragmentation in the total and vital fractions before and after density gradient centrifugation: Significance in male fertility diagnosis. Clin Biochem. 2018 Dec;62:47-54. doi: 10.1016/j.clinbiochem.2018.05.011) We are now testing the hypothesis that DNA fragmentation testing can play a diagnostic and thus pivotal role in selecting the patient who will benefit from intra-uterine insemination therapy leading to a higher clinical pregnancy and live birth rate compared to the standard semen criteria.

  Users

  Patients Couples with childwish Researchers investigating the impact on the sperm quality. Patient organisations Government Fertility experts

  Keywords

  Sperm quality, Fertility, Reproduction
• Hans Guy

  The expertise of Prof. Guy Hans is situated in the field of acute, subacute and chronic pain. His research is mostly focused on neuropathic pain conditions as wall as on the utilization of mobile health and e-health applications in nociceptive conditions.

  Technique

  animal pain models for acute and chronic pain, quantitative sensory testing, pharmacological research and research on e-health and m-health

  Users

  Pharmacological companies, patient organizations and government agencies.

  Keywords

  Televigilance, Pain management
• Hendriks Jeroen

  UAntwerpen: 1995 - 2019: Animal research - Locoregionale perfusiontechniques lung - Rat + Pig - Pharmacokinetics: collaboration with CORE - Oncology: analysis with CORE UZA: Translational - Locoregional perfusiontechniques lungs: animal to human - Clinical studies Vascular: medical devices / new technologies Thorax: Locoregionale perfusion lungs, phase I en II + pectus in children

  Technique

  Felasa C animalscare-en experiments Expert in thoracic-and vascular surgery

  Users

  Investigators interested in animal experiments Investigators with questions regarding lungs, arteries and its diseases

  Keywords

  Lung perfusion, Lung, Oncology, Lung cancer
• Jacquemyn Yves

  anythig concerning pelvic floor pathology ,myoma, endometriosis, preeclampsia, pregnancy, prenatal ultrasound, maternal health care perinatal mental healh care pelvic organ proalps pop gynaecologic and pelvic surgery laparoscopy pelvic floor ultrasound preterm birth pprom infections in pregnancy

  Technique

  ultrasound US guided invasive procedures laparoscopy davinci robot surgery hysteroscopy uscom doppler internal fetal ecg external fetal ecg

  Users

  patients pregnant women women wanting to become pregnant gynecologists midwives any researcher

  Keywords

  Preeclampsia, Pelvic organ prolaps
• Monsieurs Koenraad

  Clinical research on the quality of resuscitation. Clinical research on the effects of implementing Rapid Response Teams in hospitals. Clinical research on the effects of triaging patiënts to emergency departments or to general practitioners cooperatives. Clinical research on emergency care for elderly in home care centres. Clinical research on screening methods in emergency departmenst to detect child abuse.

  Technique

  Translational research Qualitative research Randomised studies Development of guidelines Systematic reviews

  Users

  Policy Makers Researchers Clinicians Journalists

  Keywords

  Resuscitation
• Neels Hedwig

  Topics of research : Women's Health Physiotherapy - Urogynaecology - Perinatal Physiotherapy - Musculoskeletal Disorders - 3D/4D transperineal ultrasound of the pelvic floor - clinical assessment of the pelvic floor - ICF classification of heath problems - Adherence strategies in conservative treatment - prevention - primary health care - teamwork towards secondary & tertiary subspecialized care - Extended expertise in a multidisciplinary team aiming to improve interprofessional cooperation and patient centered care. - A strong national and international network in women's health and pelvic health aiming to implement research findings in improved health care and in a diverse society. - Expertise in Health Education, aiming to raise awareness about prevention and treatment of pelvic floor disorders in women - Expertise in good science communication, also aiming to raise more awareness and to empower women in helpseaking behavior.

  Technique

  Clinical assesment of the pelvic floor Clinical assesment of musculosceletal health ICF classification 3D/4D transperineal ultrasound Transabdominal ultrasound assesment of the pelvic floor and abdominal wall EMG biofeedback of pelvic floor muscles postnatal women's health assesment uroflowmetry micturition and defecation functional assesment research designs: quantitative and qualitative research observational, prospective and retrospective research intervention studies systhematic reviews RCT Survey studies

  Users

  Women of all ages Pregnant and postnatal women All medical and paramedical health professionals/practitionners Students in medical health care (nursing and obstetrics, physiotherapy, medicine) Professional organizations (VVOG, AXXON BICAP, VBOV, etc.) Specialized, clinical small pelvis clinics patient associations KCE, WOREL EBP practice network, RISIV, health insurance funds

  Keywords

  Ultrasound, Women's health physiotherapy, Perinatal physiotherapy, Incontinence, Pelvic floor
• Van Dyck Pieter

  Prof. dr. Pieter Van Dyck is senior staff radiologist at the Radiology Department of the Antwerp University Hospital (UZA) specialized in musculoskeletal imaging. Expertise in conventional radiography (XR), ultrasound (US), computer tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MRI) imaging. Special expertise in MRI arthrography of peripheral large joints (shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee and ankle). Clinical research in advanced MRI techniques with applications in the knee. Special focus on clinical validation and implementatieon of diffusiion (tensor) MRI and super-resolution reconstruction (SRR) techniques.

  Technique

  magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

  Users

  clinical patients

  Keywords

  Arthritis
• Van Schil Paul

  Experimental and clinical expertise in isolated lung perfusion in vivo (only available as cooperative research project).

  Technique

  Isolated lung perfusion.

  Users

  - Industry with a special interest in drug evaluation in a model of isolated lung perfusion (toxicity, pharmacokinetics, efficiency on tumours) - Research groups with a specific interest in locoregional lung perfusion (animal and clinical model)

  Keywords

  Thoracic and cardiovascular surgery, Toxicity, Thoracic, Pharmacokinetics, Lung cancer, Lung metastasen, Drug efficacy