Ludwig Cancer Research is a global community of leading scientists pursuing innovative ways to prevent and control cancer. From basic research to clinical trials, in individual laboratories or as part of international teams, our researchers are tackling the hardest questions, spotting the connections and the possibilities. At Ludwig, we test our work against the one measure that matters — improving human health. Ludwig Cancer Research is a global community of leading scientists pursuing innovative ways to prevent and control cancer. From basic research to clinical trials, in individual laboratories or as part of international teams, our researchers are tackling the hardest questions, spotting the connections and the possibilities. At Ludwig, we test our work against the one measure that matters — improving human health.

  I am an expert in tumor immunology (MD, PhD) and I am currently Director of the Brussels Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and co-director of the de Duve Institute. I am also Full Professor of Immunology at the Université catholique de Louvain in Brussels and I train young scientists, including PhD students, medical students and postdoctoral Fellows form all over the world. I serve as member of several national and international scientific committees and editorial boards, and I am a full member of the Belgian Royal Academy of Medicine. I initially identified, together with Thierry Boon, the first tumor rejection antigen naturally expressed by mouse tumors. I subsequently identified a number of human tumor antigens and studied their processing. This led to the discovery of peptide splicing by the proteasome and of novel proteasome subtypes.  I also described how tumors resist immune rejection by catabolizing tryptophan, through the expression of indoleamine dioxygenase (IDO) or tryptophan dioxygenase (TDO). I am also co-founder of iTeos Therapeutics, a biotechnology company based in Gosselies (Belgium) launched in 2012 as a spin-off of Ludwig Cancer Research. Its activity consists in developing small molecule immunomodulators for cancer treatment. Its first compound, an IDO inhibitor, will soon enter clinical testing in cancer patients. In 2016, I also started a new group at Ludwig Oxford, to develop synergies in the tumor immunology landscape, focusing on cancer vaccines. I am also Professor of tumor immunology at the University of Oxford. I have published more than 150 scientific papers and books and given more than 100 invited lectures at international meetings. My work has been cited more than 11,000 times in the scientific literature Education MD (1986) and PhD (1995), Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium Residencies, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, de Duve Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium Achievements Scientific Prize Joseph Maisin (Quinquennial Prize of the FNRS), 2010 GlaxoSmithKline Prize, 2007 Prize of the 160th Anniversary of the Académie royale de Médecine de Belgique, 2001 Prize of the Fondation Alexandre et Gaston Tytgat, 1998 Annual Prize of the Fondation Maggy et Robert de Hovre, 1998 Prize of the Fondation Clément Perdieus et Cécile Petit, 1998