Mentoring & Advocacy

Belgian Women in Science - BeWiSe

Since 2016, I am the secretary of the Belgian Women in Science (NGO).

Our main objectives are to support the position of women in science, both in public and private sectors and to improve communication among women in the Belgian and European scientific community.

Since 2018, together with Solvay, I manage the Girls leading in Science project. The purpose of the competition is to encourage young people to undertake higher education in a scientific or technological field. For the winning team, Solvay and BeWiSe waiver the tuitition fee to undertake a STEM related study at a Belgian university.

I coordinate the unique 1-on-1 mentoring programme, and organise several highly interactive workshops and interesting focused lunches to increase our members' personal skills and assets. I have managed to attract female role models as speakers for our focused lunches , for instance miss Hanan Challouki, specialised in viral, digital communicatio and responsible for the "Amper Slim" project around sciences and communication of the Flemish universities and higher education institutions.

The Women's Brain Project - WBP

The Women's Brain Project is currently leading an unprecedented initiative to promote a scientific discussion on the specific vulnerability of the female brain to mental diseases, and to advocate for women's mental health.

Our Strategy

Publish high impact peer-reviewed papers that address sex and gender differences in brain and mental health.
Promote basic, clinical, social and artificial intelligence research that can help identify tools for better diagnosis, treatment and care in brain and mental health conditions affecting women
Advocate by generating social awareness and providing a platform for women passionate about and/or suffering from brain and mental diseases
Engage policy makers, scientists, patients, drug developers, regulators and organizations to discuss evidence on female vulnerability to brain and mental disease, and propose solutions

The Girls Leading in Science project by Solvay and BeWiSe. Laureate Maud receives free tuitition for a STEM related study at University

Hanan Challouki from Allyens Agency on inclusive STEM campaign

At the 9th Gender Summit Europe in November 2016 in Brussels

At the European Science Open Forum in July 2018 in Toulouse

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Mentoring the next generation of scientists

Since 2009, I have been actively mentoring students with their thesis or inthership at the University of Leuven

2009. Lies Clerx: The role of the hippocampus in associative learning.
- Completed a PhD at Maastricht University, now works as a Medical Advisor Neuroscience with Janssen-Cilag (Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical company)
2010. Tineke Stuyven: Emotions and Alzheimer’s disease; a study with Tau mice.
- Works as a psychologist and psychotherapist at the University of Leuven hospitals
2012. Maaike Van Den Haute: Effects of harmine in amyloid mice on memory tasks.
- Completed a PhD at University of Leuven, now works as a postdoc at Hasselt University
2013. Daisy Mechelmans: Cognitive evaluation of galantamine in amyloid mice.
- Was first a Research Assistent at the University of Cambridge, is now a PhD fellow of the Fund Scientific Research (FWO) at the University of Leuven
2016. Ilse Bloemen: The olfactory system and its relevance for Alzheimer's diagnosis.
- Works as a psychologist at Medical Centrum St.-Jozef Munsterbilzen
2017. Maarten Laroy: Missed connections in AD: a resting state fMRI study.
- Now a PhD fellow of the Fund Scientific Research (FWO) at the University of Leuven
2017. Eva Rens: The link between loneliness and AD: a behavioural rodent study.
- Now a PhD fellow at the University of Antwerp
2018. Victoria Salazar: The damaging effects of social isolation during adolescence in mice.
- Now a PhD fellow in our lab at the University of Leuven
2018. Lena Hofbauer: The effects of physical vs. social stimulation in social isolation.
- Now a PhD fellow at the German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases
2018. Inne Seeuws: Social interaction and ultrasonic communication in social isolation.
2019. Ming-Sum Yu: The relationship between menopause, neuroinflammation and dementia.
2019. Hannah Dickmänken: The effects of cognitive stimulation on social isolation stress.
- Will start a PhD at the University of Maastricht
2020. Emilie Baertsoen: Cognitive stimulation for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
2020. Amelie Schreurs: The link between Menopause - Motivation - Memory in rodent model.
2020. Jana Duchateau: The gut-brain axis in Alzheimer's disease transgenic mouse models.
2020. Sebastian Gerkens: Probiotics fot the treatment of Alzheimer's disease phenotype.

2020. Charbel Khoudary: Functionalized polymers: A potential novel preventative therapy for Alzheimer's disease.

Belgian Women in Science - BeWiSe

Our main objectives are to support the position of women in science, both in public and private sectors and to improve communication among women in the Belgian and European scientific community.

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The Women's Brain Project - WBP

Mentoring the next generation of scientists