Department

• School of Healthcare
• School of Bioscience and Industrial Technology

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Expertise

• Medical bacteriology
• Molecular biology
• Phage therapy

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Projects

• Advanced Biomedical laboratory Technology for the study of gene expression in Tcells of HIV patients  april 2005 | October 2008
• Study of microbiological applications of real time PCR (SMART) :  September 2009 | August 2013
• Bioinformatics-driven development of a tailor made diagnostic multiplex PCR tool for the simultaneous quantitation of inflammatory factors in human blood, Perplex : October 2014 | September 2016
• Phage Real Time Amplification for Molecular Enumeration : October 2016 | September 2018
• Quantitative phage control for safe treatment of bacterial invasive species in cystic fibrosis patients Mucophage :  October 2018 | present

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Publications

• Evaluation of the Stability of Bacteriophages in Different Solutions Suitable for the Production of Magistral Preparations in Belgium, Duyvejonck et al., Viruses 2021 May 8;13(5):865.
• Comparison of procedures for RNA-extraction from peripheral blood mononuclear cells Antonio Rodríguez, Hans Duyvejonck, Jonas D. Van Belleghem, Tessa Gryp, Leen Van Simaey, Stefan Vermeulen, Els Van Mechelen, Mario Vaneechoutte PLos one 2020
• Development of a qPCR platform for quantification of the five bacteriophages within the bacteriophage cocktail 2 (BFC2). Hans Duyvejonck, Maya Merabishvili, Jean-Paul Pirnay , Daniel De Vos, Gilbert Verbeken, Jonas Van Belleghem, Tessa Gryp, Julie De Leenheer, Kelly Van der Borght, Leen Van Simaey, Stefan Vermeulen, Els Van Mechelen, Mario Vaneechoutte.  Scientific reports, 9, 13893 (2019) 
• Validation of High Resolution Melting Analysis (HRM) of the Amplified ITS2 Region for the Detection and Identification of Yeasts from Clinical Samples: Comparison with Culture and MALDI-TOF Based Identification. Duyvejonck H, Cools P, Decruyenaere J, Roelens K, Noens L, Vermeulen S, Van Mechelen E., Vaneechoutte M. et al. (2015) PLoS ONE 10(8): e0132149
• Rapid and accurate identification of Candida species by melting curve analysis of the Internally Transcribed Spacer Region 2 fragment (ITS2-MCA). Ellen Decat, Els Van Mechelen , Bart Saerens, Stefan J.T. Vermeulen , Steven De Blaiser, Mario Vaneechoutte , Pieter Deschaght Res Microbiol. 2013 Feb-Mar;164(2):110-7.
• Optimization of qPCR assays for eight bacterial pathogens of the oral cavity. Ellen Decat, Jan Cosyn, Hugo De Bruyn, Reza Miremadi, Bart Saerens, Katrijn Princen, Els Van Mechelen, Stefan Vermeulen, Mario Vaneechoutte, Pieter Deschaght BMC Research Notes 2012, 5: 664.
• A double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study on the clinical and microbial effects of an essential oils mouth rinse used by patients in supportive periodontal care. Cosyn, J., Princen, K., Miremadi, R., Decat, E., Vaneechoutte, M., De Bruyn, H. Int J Dent Hyg. 2013 Feb;11(1):53-61. 
• Rapid genotyping of Achromobacter xylosoxidans, Acinetobacter baumannii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia isolates using melting curve analysis of RAPD-generated DNA fragments (McRAPD) Deschaght P, Van Simaey L, Decat E, Van Mechelen E, Brisse S, Vaneechoutte M. Res Microbiol. 2011 May;162(4):386-92. Epub 2011 Feb 12 
• Cyclic AMP-mediated induction of the glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is independent of protein kinase A activation in rat C6 glioma. Katelijne Anciaux, Kristof Van Dommelen, Stefan Nicolaï, Els Van Mechelen and Herman Slegers. J.Neurosci Res. 48, 324-333 (1997) 
• Cyclic AMP-induced differentiation increases the synthesis of extracellular superoxide dismutase in rat C6 glioma Stefan Nicolaï, Jean Willems, An Zwijsen, Els Van Mechelen,   Herman Slegers.. Free Radical Biology and Medicine 21, 481-486 (1996) 
• Monoclonal antibodies against metallothioneins from the human liver. K. Van Houdt, I. Nicasi, E. Van Mechelen, B. Veulemans & M. De Ley. Immunology Letters 32, 21-26 (1992).