My Research
My Research Interests
In short: it’s all about genomics. From genome assembly and annotation to population genomics and deciphering gene regulatory cascades through single-cell expression data—I’m hooked. And if it’s plants? Even better! But, in all honesty, as long as there’s DNA, you’ve got my interest.
During my PhD at the Free University of Brussels, I tackled the complex genome of a beetle, assembling and annotating it, and—thanks to a sprinkle of machine learning—I uncovered evidence of asymmetric introgression between this beetle and its sister species.
I’m now a postdoc at the VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology, working on a range of projects:
- Developing tools to predict genes involved in specific plant traits.
- Maintaining a tool that infers cell-type-specific gene regulatory networks in plants (check out our latest preprint for a deep dive!).
- Investigating how maize responds to drought via single-cell experiments.
- Assembling and annotating diatom genomes—yes, diatoms, they’re cool too.
Side note: My postdoc contract won’t last forever, so if you're looking for a bioinformatician with computer science skills for any genomics-related projects—whether academic or industrial—let's have a chat!
My Skills
- Computer scienceAt heart, I’m a computer scientist and software engineer. I used to be fluent in C, C++ and C#, but ever since I ventured into bioinformatics, I’ve been mostly speaking Python and bash, with occasional dabbling in Nextflow. I also moonlight as a web developer, mostly with PHP, but this very site was crafted using React.js/Next.js. Database management? MySQL’s my go-to.
- BioinformaticsMy core expertise includes genome assembly, annotation and gene regulatory networks. I’m comfortable with NGS data analysis—whether it’s DNA-seq (Illumina, Oxford Nanopore, PacBio HiFi) or (sc)RNA-seq (Illumina). Just give me the data, and let’s see what stories the genes tell!
Where Did It All Start?
My curiosity for how things work started early. Like the time my brother and I dissected a broken cuckoo clock or when I accidentally discovered a “time warp” bug on my Tamagotchi, speeding up the game and spawning new creatures! Unfortunately, my first Tetris didn’t come with any bugs, but I still enjoyed reaching higher levels and wondering what magic lay inside.
Despite this curiosity, I had no idea what I wanted to do—until my best friend programmed a chess game on his calculator. Inspired, I thought I could create my own Tetris (spoiler: I didn’t). But it led me to study computer science.
After graduation, I worked as a software engineer in the railway industry, testing our tools on real trains at night! But my love for understanding “how things work” wasn’t quite fulfilled. Then my partner showed me a DNA-related article I didn’t understand a word of—and that was the spark! I went back to university, powered by my love for genomics and Café Shock, studied bioinformatics, and embarked on a PhD at 31, diving into genome assembly and evolutionary history of beetles.
And now? I’m happily working at a super plant research center, combining my love for plants and software to improve crops!
