My Research
My Research Interests
I am a bioinformatician who started in computer science and somehow ended up working with plants, diatoms, genomes, and gene regulatory networks—and enjoying it, usually by asking computers uncomfortable biological questions.
I am currently a postdoctoral researcher at the VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology. I obtained my PhD and two Master’s degrees at Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB). My research focuses on integrative and systems biology approaches. I combine single-cell transcriptomics, network inference, and text mining to prioritize genes involved in complex traits. A significant part of my work involves developing computational tools that are robust, reproducible, and actually usable by biologists.
Since 2025, I have also been involved in teaching. Among other activities, I am the lecturer in charge of the course Linux for Bioinformatics Environment at UGent, where I teach students how not to fear the terminal. I also contribute to teaching in the ULB/VIB Executive Master in Digital and IT Essentials, focusing on the digital survival skills of non-computer scientists.
I enjoy developing methods that are easy to use and explaining complex ideas in ways that do not require prior suffering. If you're in the mood for some light reading, you can find my publications on Google Scholar.
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!
