Frederik Van den Broeck, PhD
Rega Institute for Medical Research, KU Leuven, Belgium.
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium.
email
Research interests
I am a biologist working on infectious diseases found in the tropics.
My primary research interest lies in understanding the evolution of tropical pathogens using genomic, epidemiological and historical data. I’m very excited about the research areas of evolutionary genetics and computational biology, especially in combination with mining high-throughput sequencing data.
I’m particular interested in studying neglected tropical diseases, namely diseases that plague the wolrd’s developing countries but still receive far too little scientific attention compared to diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. My research focuses on three such diseases that have devastating worldwide consequences for both human and animal health, namely (Muco-)cutaneous leishmaniasis or espundia, African Trypanosomiasis and Human Schistosomiasis.
Popular articles
EOS blog: In de voetsporen van een nieuwe soort
Main scientific articles
Van den Broeck F, Savill N, Imamura H, Sanders M, Maes I, Cooper S, Mateus D, Jara M, Adaui V, Arevalo J, Llanos-Cuentas A, Garcia L, Cupolillo E, Miles M, Berriman M, Schnaufer A, Cotton J, Dujardin JC. Ecological divergence and hybridization of Neotropical Leishmania parasites. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADAMY OF SCIENCES. 2020
Tihon E, Imamura H, Dujardin JC, Van Den Abbeele J & Van den Broeck F. Discovery and genomic analyses of hybridization between divergent lineages of Trypanosoma congolense, causative agent of Animal African Trypanosomiasis. MOLECULAR ECOLOGY. 26 (23): 6524–6538. 2017
Imamura H, Downing T, Van den Broeck F, Sanders MJ, Rijal S, Sundar S, Mannaert A, Vanaerschot M, Berg M, De Muylder G, Dumetz F, Cuypers B, Maes I, Domagalska M, Decuypere S, Rai K, Uranw S, Bhattarai NR, Khanal B, Prajapati VK, Sharma S, Stark O, Schönian G7, De Koning HP, Settimo L, Vanhollebeke B, Roy S, Ostyn B, Boelaert M, Maes L, Berriman M, Dujardin JC & Cotton JA. Evolutionary genomics of epidemic visceral leishmaniasis in the Indian subcontinent. ELIFE. 5: e12613. 2016
Van den Broeck F, Maes G, Larmuseau M, Rollinson D, Sy I, Faye D, Volckaert F, Polman K & Huyse T. Reconstructing colonization dynamics of the human parasite Schistosoma mansoni following anthropogenic environmental changes in Northwest Senegal. PLOS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES. 9 (8): e0003998. 2015
Van den Broeck F, Meurs L, Raeymaekers JAM, Boon N, Tandakha N, Volckaert FAM, Polman K & Huyse T. Inbreeding within human Schistosoma mansoni: do host-specific factors shape the genetic composition of parasite populations? HEREDITY. 113: 32-41. 2014
Invited presentations
Genomic epidemiology of T. b. gambiense, agent of Human African Trypanosomiasis. Departmental seminar at the University of Edinburgh (2020)
Natural variation and recent evolution of cutaneous leishmaniasis in South-America. Seminar at the BIOMedical Informatics research Network Antwerp (2019)
Speciation genomics of parasitic protozoa. Plenary Speaker at MEEGID XIV, Sitges, Spain (2018)
Population genomics of New World Leishmania species along and across the Peruvian Andes. Departmental seminar at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (2018)
Media coverage
VRT NWS: Belgische wetenschappers vinden link tussen klimaatverandering en nieuwe ziekteverwekkers
EOS: Zo ontstaat een nieuwe ziekte
Het laatste nieuws: Na dertig jaar uitgeklaard: ook parasieten hebben seks
De Standaard: Schistosomiase-parasiet slaat toe in Noord-Senegal na bouw van twee dammen
De Morgen: Parasiet slaat toe in Noord-Senegal na bouw van twee dammen
Knack: Parasieten profiteren van ons
KUL nieuws: Congo-expeditie rond biodiversiteit
Science Faculty News: Boyekoli Ebale Congo 2010 (lingala voor ‘Studie van de Rivier’)