Rate My Professor Katy Vandereyken

Dr. Katy Vandereyken is a Research Manager at the Laboratory of Reproductive Genomics within the Department of Human Genetics at KU Leuven, part of the Biomedical Sciences Group. She plays a central role in the KU Leuven Institute for Single Cell Omics (LISCO) as a member of the Central Coordination Team, spatial omics expert, and Operational Manager of the LISCO Innovation & Service Platform. She leads the spatial transcriptomics platform, managing research lines, service projects, and collaborations. With a PhD in Bioscience Engineering from KU Leuven (2014-2018) focused on plant biology and plant pathology at the Center of Microbial and Plant Genetics, she joined Prof. Thierry Voet's team as a postdoctoral researcher in February 2019. She contributed to establishing LISCO in 2020 and was promoted to Research Manager in December 2021. Her career trajectory reflects a shift from plant sciences to advanced human genomics technologies.

Vandereyken's research specializations encompass single-cell and spatial multi-omics technologies, with emphasis on spatial transcriptomics applications in biomedical fields such as cancer biology, neurodegeneration, human development, and reproductive genomics. She advises on technology selection, coordinates assay development and execution, data analysis, project management, and supervises teams. Under her guidance, LISCO's spatial platform has become a Certified Service Provider for 10x Genomics Visium HD and Xenium, and part of the 10x Genomics Spatial Catalyst network, supporting over 25 KU Leuven research teams and external partners. Notable publications include the highly cited review "Methods and applications for single-cell and spatial multi-omics" in Nature Reviews Genetics (2023, top 0.1% cited in Molecular Biology & Genetics), contributions to Nature Neuroscience, Nature Communications, Immunity, and her PhD-related paper "Hub Protein Controversy: Taking a Closer Look at Plant Stress Response Hubs" in Frontiers in Plant Science (2018). She drives funded initiatives like Aligning Science Across Parkinson's, Foundation Against Cancer, and Horizon Europe projects, enhancing translational impact through interdisciplinary efforts and infrastructure development at LISCO.