Kevin Verstrepen

Kevin Verstrepen is professor in Genetics and Genomics at Leuven University and Group Leader in Systems Biology at VIB (Flanders Institute for Biotechnology). He serves as the director of the VIB Center for Microbiology, director of the Leuven Institute for Beer Research and as Honorary Professor at Nottingham University.

Verstrepen obtained his MSc and PhD in biological engineering from Leuven University. Between 2003 and 2005, he served as a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Gerald Fink at M.I.T. In 2005, Verstrepen was appointed as Fellow and lecturer at Harvard University, where he led a team of researchers specialized in yeast genetics. In 2007, he was appointed as professor in Genetics at Leuven University and after he was also appointed as team leader at the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology in 2009, he moved his team from Harvard back to Leuven. In 2011, Verstrepen Founded the Leuven Institute for Beer Research and in 2016, he was appointed as director of the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Microbiology.

Verstrepen authored more than 100 publications in various scientific journals and books and received several distinctions, including the Harvard Derek Bok Award for teaching, the EMBO Young Investigator award, the Léo Errera prize for general biology of the Belgian Academy for Arts and Sciences, an Honorary Professorship form Nottingham University and a golden chalk award for best teacher from the Leuven Bio-Engineering students.