Joris Vriens

Joris Vriens is Assistant Professor at the Department Development & Regeneration at the Catholique Universiteit of Leuven in Belgium. He received his PhD in Biomedical Sciences at the KULeuven investigating the different activation mechanism of the TRPV4 ion channel. As a post doc he went abroad to the lab of Prof Clapham at the Harvard Medical School, Boston, US to assess the Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy to study the trafficking of ion channels to the plasma membrane. After his post doc period he returned to Belgium to start up the lab of endometrium, endometriosis and reproductive medicine (LEERM) at the KULeuven. His lab continues to pioneer and investigate the role of ion channels in the female reproductive system with a particular focus on the first fetal-maternal communication and assess the role of ion channels in placental function and development. The long-term goal of the Vriens group is to amend current IVF strategies to improve the percentages of successful implantation processes. Vriens is part of the Center of Ion Channel Research headed by Prof Thomas Voets.