Bram Van Den Eeckhout

In 2016, Bram Van Den Eeckhout joined Jan Tavernier’s group at the VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology where he obtained a PhD under the guidance of Sarah Gerlo. During his PhD, Bram worked on the innovative AcTakine (for Activity-on-Target cytokine) concept, a biotechnological strategy that allows for delivery of cytokine activity to a priori selected cell types in order to improve their efficacy and evade toxic off-target side effects induced upon their systemic administration. Bram specifically focused on the development of an AcTakine that delivers the activity of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) to CD8+ T cells for use as a novel immunological adjuvant in prophylactic influenza vaccination and therapeutic cancer vaccination strategies. Upon completion of his PhD, Bram joined the HIV Cure and Research Center (HCRC), headed by Linos Vandekerckhove, where his focus mainly lies on the fundamental study of IL-1β in T cell responses and the development of novel nanobody-based strategies to enhance T cell immunity to combat infectious diseases, such as HIV, and cancer.