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Sleegers Lab

@sleegerslab.bsky.social
152 followers 227 following 36 posts

The Kristel Sleegers lab at VIB Center for Molecular Neurology and University of Antwerp, committed to increase insight in the complex genetics of Alzheimer’s disease. uantwerpen.vib.be/group/KristelSlee…

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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
🧠🧬 New from our lab! Postdoc Celeste Laureyssen ( @celestelaureyssen.bsky.social ) reviews how neuropathology-centered GWAS can sharpen our understanding of the genetics of Alzheimer’s disease and its frequent co-pathologies—moving beyond clinical diagnosis alone. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
A new era of genome-wide association studies in the field of Alzheimer’s disease and overlapping co-pathologies: lessons learned from a neuropathology-centered approach - Acta Neuropathologica
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and overlapping pathologies represent a growing worldwide health concern. With the first disease-modifying treatments on the rise, it becomes increasingly important to move re...
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Today, we welcome Asish to our group (@swainasish.bsky.social)! Asish will investigate the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying Alzheimer’s disease using single-cell and spatial omics approaches, with a focus on neuroinflammation and disease-associated cellular phenotypes. Welcome, Asish!
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Last week, we welcomed our new lab member named iCatcher! 🤖 The iCatcher will help our lab perform hundreds of RNA and DNA extractions from whole blood, plasma, tissue, ... Looking forward to our high-throughput era! 💅 Thanks to CATCHGENE, LabHelp, and @fwovlaanderen.bsky.social.
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Fahri Küçükali @maegsul.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Indeed! Very happy for the opportunity to talk about our latest work on tandem repeats and Alzheimer's disease risk at hashtag#AAIC26 in London last week 🧬🧠 A massive thank you to the Sleegers Lab team and all collaborators who made this work possible!
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
What a fantastic time we had at #AAIC26 in London last week! 🧠🧬 It was incredibly inspiring to connect with the global Alzheimer's disease research community and share our lab's latest work.
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bioRxiv Bioinfo @biorxiv-bioinfo.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
inquiSTR: a toolkit for accurate and efficient population-scale tandem repeat genotyping and analysis www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Out now in @natgenet.nature.com! Our latest GWAS meta-analysis identifies 91 risk loci for Alzheimer’s, deeply expanding our understanding of its genetic architecture. Proud of our team's contribution to this massive milestone! 🧠🧬🔬 @maegsul.bsky.social doi.org/10.1038/s415...
doi.org
Consensus meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias - Nature Genetics
An updated meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identified 91 risk loci for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias among individuals of European ancestry, of which 56 loci were spe...
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Jasper Verwilt @verwilt.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
What a huge effort by Anneleen Decock and Annelien Morlion from the OncoRNALab (@jvdesomp.bsky.social and Pieter Mestdagh), meticulously documenting a completely reproducible exRNA sequencing protocol. www.cell.com/star-protoco...
cell.com
Protocol for total RNA sequencing analysis of extracellular RNA from biofluids
Extracellular or cell-free RNAs (exRNAs) derived from biofluids are utilized in biomarker studies to study health and diseases. Here, we present a protocol for total RNA sequencing analysis of blood p...
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Last Friday, the KS Lab attended the Stop Alzheimer (SAO) Young Researcher Congress in Mechelen 🧠 During the event, Fahri Küçükali gave an oral presentation and Nicole Natalia Wawrzyniak presented a poster. 📊 Once again, we thank SAO for their continued support of Alzheimer's research in Belgium!
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Fahri Küçükali @maegsul.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Happy and honoured to receive the Fabrizio Caielli Award from the Carlo Besta Neurological Institute for our recent publication, “Multiomic analyses direct hypotheses for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease risk genes” 🧠🧬 Many thanks to the selection committee for this recognition. 🔗 tinyurl.com/5y7nwp34
academic.oup.com
Multiomic analyses direct hypotheses for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease risk genes
Küçükali & Hill et al. integrate GWAS data with transcriptome and proteome-wide association studies to better understand risk factors for sporadic Creu
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
Through the Flemish Cognitive Compass, we can link genetic profiles with blood biomarkers and long-term follow-up at population level. Thankful for the opportunity to contribute to such a collaborative and forward-looking effort!
cmn.sites.vib.be
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
Over the past months, we have mentioned our 1000 Healthy Elderly study quite often. This article puts the study in the perspective of the most important people in our study: the participants 🧓 biovox.eu/before-the-f...
biovox.eu
Before the Fall: Catching Cognitive Decline Early with Citizen Science - BioVox
In Antwerp, a unique cohort of volunteers is helping to solve one of our most urgent medical challenges: the early detection of dementia.
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
Extremely thankful to have our Senior Research Project (with Julie van der Zee and @verwilt.bsky.social) funded in this @fwovlaanderen.bsky.social call! This marks a huge investment into our 1000 Healthy Elderly study in search of novel cell-free biomarkers! 🧠🧬🩸
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
HIRING ALERT!!! 💥 We are looking for an enthusiastic postdoctoral researcher to uncover Alzheimer's disease mechanisms using state-of-the-art technologies! 🧠🧬 jobs.vib.be/j/128109/pos...
jobs.vib.be
Postdoctoral Researcher in Computational Genomics of Alzheimers Disease - VIB
Description TheSleegers labat the VIB-UAntwerp Center for Molecular Neurology Belgium, is seeking a highly motivated and talented postdoctoral r
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
Last Friday, we shared our research with 1st year Master's students at @uantwerpen.be during the Research Day! We loved their genuine interest and look forward to welcoming several of them to our lab next year. Great to see Ph.D. students Kato and Ella share their love for science! 🧪
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cmn-vib.bsky.social @cmn-vib.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
The European Alzheimer & Dementia Biobank (EADB) unites cohorts across 18 countries to decode the genetics of Alzheimer’s disease. eadb.eu At CMN, the @sleegerslab.bsky.social plays a leading role, with postdoc Fahri Küçükali as our in-house EADB specialist. #CMNcohorts #CMNconsortia
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
One year in, nearly 200 re-inclusions and a clearer picture of healthy brain aging! The 1000 Healthy Elderly Study has become a real engine for discovery. Thanks to all of our volunteers and a special shout-out to Sofie Van de kerckhoven for the excellence at intake and sampling! bit.ly/4gV9TLk
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
🚨 #PhD opportunity! Sleegers & Rademakers Labs are looking for a PhD candidate to develop biomarkers for neurological disorders by integrating genomics & transcriptomics data🧠🔬 @cmn-vib.bsky.social 📍 Antwerp, Belgium | 💡 Genetics • Bioinformatics • Neuroscience Apply 👉 jobs.vib.be/j/124544/joi...
jobs.vib.be
Joint PhD position on developing genetic risk scores as biomarkers for neurological disorders - VIB
The Rademakers team and the Sleegers team at the VIB-UAntwerp Center for Molecular Neurology, Belgium a
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SciMingo @scimingo.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
🌪️ Storm aan talent op komst: ontdek de selectie van de Vlaamse #PhDCup 2025 🏆 Lees meer en ontdek alle kandidaten 👉 www.phdcup.be/nieuws/storm... @uantwerpen.be @kuleuvenuniversity.bsky.social #uhasselt #ugent #vub @fwovlaanderen.bsky.social
phdcup.be
Storm aan talent: ontdek de 16 kandidaten van de Vlaamse PhD Cup 2025
De barometer stijgt: de selectie voor de tiende Vlaamse PhD Cup is rond. Zestien jonge wetenschappers staan klaar om hun doctoraatsonderzoek te delen in een glasheldere presentatie van drie minuten.
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Our postdoc @verwilt.bsky.social is selected for the @scimingo.bsky.social PhD Cup for his research during his PhD! 💥 Let's see how his findings can impact Alzheimer's Disease 🧠🧬🩸 @fwovlaanderen.bsky.social @ugent-fge.bsky.social @cmn-vib.bsky.social @viblifesciences.bsky.social @uantwerpen.be
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Jasper Verwilt @verwilt.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Over the moon to be selected for the Flemish #PhDCup 2025 for my research at @ugent-fge.bsky.social at the OncoRNALab with @jvdesomp.bsky.social and Pieter Mestdagh! @fwovlaanderen.bsky.social
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cmn-vib.bsky.social @cmn-vib.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
Big congrats to @verwilt.bsky.social‬ from the @sleegerslab.bsky.social‬ on his FWO fellowship! He’ll be mapping RNA and DNA in blood, CSF, even tear fluid, to develop non-invasive biomarkers for Alzheimer’s using long-read sequencing. tinyurl.com/ym6c8csr
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
Ciao Milano! We are happy and excited to be here for #eshg2025 @eshg.bsky.social Come find us during the oral and poster presentations by our team members Fahri Küçükali (@maegsul.bsky.social) & Celeste Laureyssen (@celestelaureyssen.bsky.social) today and tomorrow 🧬 🧠
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
What a poster! Master’s student in our lab, Kato Nauwelaers, won third prize for her poster at NeuroDay 2025 @uantwerpen.be! Congrats Kato! 🎉
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
Look at us! 🤩 We presented the excuting research going on in our lab at the @uantwerpen.be NeuroDay 2025. So great to with fellow neuroscientist! 🧠
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
A new chapter in our lab has begun! Our postdoc @verwilt.bsky.social has received an FWO Junior Fellowship to look for non-invasive extracellular biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease. Stay tuned for some cool research! @fwovlaanderen.bsky.social
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Jasper Verwilt @verwilt.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
YOU MUST BE KIDDING ME! 🥳 Extremely happy to be selected as a Junior FWO Postdoctoral fellowship! Stay tuned for novel extracellular biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease! Can’t wait to jump in these three years! 🧠🩸🧬 #fwo #RNA #cfDNA #alzheimers @fwovlaanderen.bsky.social @sleegerslab.bsky.social
fwo.be
Fwo
There were 1038 applications for the junior fellowships and 439 for the senior fellowships. As a result, the success rate this year fell to 16.1% (-1.3%) for junior postdocs and 25.9% (-7.8%) for senior postdocs.
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Jo Vandesompele @jvdesomp.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
7 years in the making... 1.6 liters of blood and 11 billion sequencing reads to compare 456 extracellular transcriptomes. Our best practices for blood plasma extracellular RNA profiling have been published as a peer-reviewed article. communities.springernature.com/posts/the-ro...
communities.springernature.com
The road to discovery - a collaborative effort towards new insights in blood plasma RNA profiling
After more than seven years of research, our extracellular RNA quality control (exRNAQC) study has culminated in a scientific publication. This milestone is not just about sharing new findings – it re...
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Jasper Verwilt @verwilt.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Finally out! The exRNAQC Consortium is very happy to present this milestone benchmark on blood tubes and RNA extraction kits for extracellular RNA research out in @natcomms.nature.com! The associated blog post tells a story of a lengthy effort and multi-facetted collaboration🩸🧬
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
Our lab’s recent hackathon ☕🧠💻 was a success: three packed days, one awesome crew, endless ideas. We built fresh neurogenomics tools and leveled-up team vibes 🚀🧬
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
🚨 PhD Position Alert! 🚨 We're excited to announce a collaborative PhD opportunity with @uantwerpen.be LEMP, investigating the role of mucin splicing in colorectal cancer. If you're passionate about RNA biology, omics, and translational research, this could be the perfect fit!
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Fahri Küçükali @maegsul.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Exciting news! Our paper on GWAS gene prioritization for Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease is now published in Brain! 🧠🧬 @brain1878.bsky.social We leverage eQTL and pQTL catalogues to identify prioritized risk genes with potential roles in prion disease. Check it out here: academic.oup.com/brain/advanc...
academic.oup.com
Multiomic analyses direct hypotheses for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease risk genes
Küçükali & Hill et al. integrate GWAS data with transcriptome and proteome-wide association studies to better understand risk factors for sporadic Creu
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Simon Mead @smead2.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
New paper on risk genes for sporadic CJD academic.oup.com/brain/advanc...
academic.oup.com
Multiomic analyses direct hypotheses for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease risk genes
Küçükali & Hill et al. integrate GWAS data with transcriptome and proteome-wide association studies to better understand risk factors for sporadic Creu
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Very happy to see our review on Alzheimer's disease rare genetic variants published in @natrevneurol.bsky.social! 🧠🧬 Huge congrats to our PhD student @laradedeyn.bsky.social 🎉👏✨ www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
The impact of rare genetic variants on Alzheimer disease - Nature Reviews Neurology
In this Review, the authors summarize the genetic and epidemiological characteristics of rare variants associated with Alzheimer disease so far, and explore the insights that these variants have provi...
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Nature Reviews Neurology @natrevneurol.nature.com · 04/02/2025
New online! The impact of rare genetic variants on Alzheimer disease bit.ly/4hntQtT
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
From tears to AD biomarkers! @verwilt.bsky.social recently received a 10.000 euro @uantwerpen.bsky.social BOF KP grant to kickstart our research on the biomarker potential of tear fluid RNA in AD! 🥲🧬
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cmn-vib.bsky.social @cmn-vib.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
We have an open position for a PhD student to look for new #biomarkers for #epilepsy and #alzheimersdisease in blood/serum, cerebrospinal fluid, and brain tissue samples. 📈 🩸 🧠 A joint position in the @sleegerslab.bsky.social and Weckhuysen lab. All info 👉 cmn.sites.vib.be/en/join-us#/...
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
💼💥Ph.D. JOB ALERT!!! Together with the lab of Prof. Weckhuysen, we are looking for a motivated Ph.D. student 🧑‍🎓 to explore the wonders of liquid biopsies and help diagnosing Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy patients 🧠🩸
jobs.vib.be
Joint PhD candidate in the laboratories of Sarah Weckhuysen and Kristel Sleegers - VIB
The Weckhuysen team and the Sleegers team at the VIB-UAntwerp Center for Molecular Neuro
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VIB @viblifesciences.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
🧠 New insights into the genetic factors that drive Alzheimer’s disease 👉 Read here: vibbio.tech/4izHlYc 🔬 Study led by Prof. Kristel Sleegers of VIB-UAntwerp Center for Molecular Neurology @uantwerpen.bsky.social @alzassociation.bsky.social
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Jean-Charles Lambert @jclambert.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Finally out! X‐chromosome-wide association study for Alzheimer. Our new EADB work led by Celine Bellenguez in collaboration with GR@ACE, DEGESCO, EADI, GERAD, DemGene, FinnGen, ADGC and CHARGE. We identified seven X-chromosome-wide significant loci that need further validation. rdcu.be/d2tWv
rdcu.be
X‐chromosome-wide association study for Alzheimer’s disease
Molecular Psychiatry - X‐chromosome-wide association study for Alzheimer’s disease
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Jasper Verwilt @verwilt.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
🤝 Marieke Vromman ⭕️🧬 Very happy to share that our review on extracellular circRNAs is now out in WIREs RNA! We summarize the little that is known, navigate their daunting literature, and dive into hypotheses on their extracellular existence! wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Current Understandings and Open Hypotheses on Extracellular Circular RNAs
Circular RNAs are present in the extracellular space and could function as biomarkers. However, it remains mostly unknown in which fraction(s) of them are present: in lipoprotein particles, in comple...
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
For the FFBD Faculty Research day, the @UAntwerpen interviewed our Ph.D. student @CelesteLaureys1 on her work on the genetic exploration of Alzheimer’s disease hallmarks . Listen to her explain her research! 🧠🧬https://open.spotify.com/episode/0isr8pKJq9w0GqLJpgrn7n?si=-05SPAOTQHKWZ34_FTIFDQ
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 22/10/2024
We are excited to share that our new paper, led by Celeste Laureyssen, is now published in Acta Neuropathologica and available online!🧠🧬 Check out our new publication here: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Hypothesis-based investigation of known AD risk variants reveals the genetic underpinnings of neuropathological lesions observed in Alzheimer’s-type dementia - Acta Neuropathologica
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia worldwide. Besides neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid beta (Aβ) plaques, a wide range of co-morbid neuropathological features can be observed...
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 21/10/2024
Talking long reads in Uppsala! Find the ever-enthusiastic Tijs Watzeels at his poster where he will draw you into the world of differential isoform usage in AD! 🧠🧬 #LRUA24
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 11/10/2024
The last few days, one of our Ph.D. students Celeste Laureyssen presented a poster on her research at ECDO Conference focusing on “Cell Death at the Crossroads of Neurodegeneration and Cancer". Stay tuned for the follow-up paper soon to be published! 🥳🧐#ECDO2024
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Fahri Küçükali @maegsul.bsky.social · 27/09/2024
Very happy to see our new paper on our new tool for comprehensive analysis of single-cell RNA long-reads, 𝙨𝙘𝙮𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙚𝙧, published! 🧬 If you have any long-read single-cell datasets, give it a try! Paper: academic.oup.com/bioinformati... GitHub: github.com/derijkp/scyw...
academic.oup.com
Scywalker: scalable end-to-end data analysis workflow for long-read single-cell transcriptome sequencing
AbstractMotivation. Existing nanopore single-cell data analysis tools showed severe limitations in handling current data sizes.Results. We introduce scywal
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 28/07/2024
Happy and excited to be in Philly for #AAIC24! Come find us during the oral and poster presentations by our team members Lara De Deyn, Celeste Laureyssen, and Fahri Küçükali (@maegsul.bsky.social) on our recent work! 🧠🧬
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 04/04/2024
Exciting news! Yesterday, we were honored to receive a generous grant from Stichting Alzheimer Onderzoek! This grant is a crucial step forward for our Alzheimer's research as we'll be delving into the intricacies of the ABCA7 gene, a risk factor in AD 🧠🧬 Thanks to everyone involved!
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 01/04/2024
New review out! Let Lena Duchateau, Nicole Wawrzyniak, and Kristel Seegers guide you through the mysterious world of ABCA7!
alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
The ABC's of Alzheimer risk gene ABCA7
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a growing problem worldwide. Since ABCA7’s identification as a risk gene, it has been extensively researched for its role in the disease. We review its recently character.....
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Sleegers Lab @sleegerslab.bsky.social · 25/03/2024
Good morning #Tau2024! Come say hi to Celeste Laureyssen who is presenting her poster, "Genetic variation in APH1B is associated with tau-related brain lesions observed in Alzheimer's disease", poster board 31 today! 🧬🧠 www.alz.org/tau/overview... #Tau2024
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