Leo van Grunsven is a Professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) where he serves as head of the Liver Cell Biology research group, a position he has held since 2009. His research is situated within the Basic (bio)medical sciences faculty, specifically in the Translational Liver Cell Biology department. With over 239 research outputs and 60 active projects, his work has significantly contributed to the understanding of liver biology and disease mechanisms. Dr. van Grunsven obtained his PhD in life sciences from the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon (France, 1996), following postdoctoral training at the NINDS/NIH (Bethesda, USA, '96-'98) and KU Leuven (Belgium, '98-'06). His laboratory specializes in studying molecular mechanisms driving liver homeostasis, fibrosis, and regeneration, with particular expertise in hepatic stellate cells and in vitro disease modeling. His research interests focus on understanding hepatic stellate cell biology and developing innovative in vitro models for chronic liver disease. His group was the first to identify autophagy, AGE- and Hippo-signaling as key mechanisms in hepatic stellate cell activation during liver fibrogenesis. They also established the first hepatocyte-injury dependent in vitro liver fibrosis model using organoid cultures of human hepatocytes and iPSC-derived hepatic stellate cells. Current research focuses on refining these models and investigating stress pathway regulation in liver cells during acute and chronic injury. Analysis of Dr. van Grunsven's recent publications reveals a strong focus on liver fibrosis mechanisms, with particular emphasis on hepatic stellate cell activation, liver organoid models, and the molecular pathways driving liver disease progression. His work bridges basic science with translational applications, developing novel in vitro models that better recapitulate human liver pathologies. Dr. van Grunsven actively supervises research, with 43 supervised works documented in his profile. He leads multiple significant research projects including B-LIVER 2.0 (Brussels Alliance for Liver Research & Valorization, 2025-2029), CATCH (CAR-T cell immunotherapy against chronic liver disease, 2024-2028), and 3D-CELLMAP (advanced imaging of cell interactions in tissues, 2024-2028). His laboratory, the Liver Cell Biology Laboratory, maintains active collaborations across multiple institutions and continues to advance the field of liver research through innovative approaches to modeling liver disease and identifying potential therapeutic targets.
