Rate My Professor Inge Depoortere

Inge Depoortere is a full professor in the Faculty of Medicine at KU Leuven, affiliated with the Department of Chronic Diseases and Metabolism and head of the Gut Peptide Research Lab within the Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders (TARGID). She obtained her PhD in Sciences from the Faculty of Medicine at KU Leuven in 1991. After completing postdoctoral studies, she joined KU Leuven in 2002 and assumed leadership of the Gut Peptide Research Lab in 2008. Depoortere serves on programme committees and networks, holds several teaching assignments including Advances in Metabolism and Human Disease, Hot Topics in Hormonology, and Systeemfysiologie, and has acted as (co)promotor for 15 doctoral theses. Her research is supported by national funding, European Horizon grants, Methusalem grants from KU Leuven, and FWO senior research projects.

Her academic interests center on chemosensory receptors in gut nutrient sensing mechanisms, the effects of nutrients and microbial metabolites on stem cell biology in intestinal organoids derived from patients with obesity, peripheral clock genes in the circadian regulation of gut physiology during chronodisruption, and the role of gastrointestinal peptides and their receptors in regulating food intake and motility. Earlier contributions include discoveries related to motilin and ghrelin in gastrointestinal motility, leading to the first motilin antagonist and gastroprokinetic agents such as motilides and ghrelin agonists. She has authored 256 publications with over 10,800 citations. Notable works include 'Time-Restricted Feeding Reinforces Gut Rhythmicity by Restoring Rhythms in Intestinal Metabolism in a Mouse Model' (2025, Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology), 'Bitter-tasting drugs tune GDF15 and GLP-1 expression via bitter taste or motilin receptors in the intestine of patients with obesity' (2024, Molecular Metabolism), 'FFAR4 drives stem cell fate toward lipid- and iron-storing enterocytes protecting human enteroids from ferroptosis' (2025, Stem Cell Research & Therapy), and 'Human intestinal bitter taste receptors regulate innate immune responses and metabolic regulators in obesity' (2022). Depoortere received the Carl Ludwig Award and Acta Physiologica Award for 'The circadian clock regulates the diurnal levels of microbial short-chain fatty acids and their rhythmic effects on colon contractility in mice' (Acta Physiologica, 2019), along with the KU Leuven Research Council Award.