Xavier Saelens (born 1965) is a
Belgian
Belgian may refer to:
* Something of, or related to, Belgium
* Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent
* Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German
*Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...
scientist and currently his main research interest is finding a universal
influenza
Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...
vaccine
A vaccine is a biological Dosage form, preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease, infectious or cancer, malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verifie ...
. He is a lecturer in Virology and Group Leader of the Molecular Virology Unit at the
University of Ghent
Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium.
Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when the ...
(
Ghent
Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
).
Education
He obtained a bachelor's degree in
Biology
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...
at the
University of Ghent
Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium.
Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when the ...
in 1985, and a master's degree in
Biotechnology
Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...
and also a PhD in Biotechnology (1990). Saelens is married and has two children.
Career
He worked as a Postdoc at the University of Ghent from 1990 until 2004 and he is
VIB Project Leader since 2005. His current research focuses on the development and characterisation of novel influenza A and B vaccines. Together with
Walter Fiers
Walter Fiers (31 January 1931 in Ypres, West Flanders – 28 July 2019 in Destelbergen) was a Belgian molecular biologist.
He obtained a degree of Engineer for Chemistry and Agricultural Industries at the University of Ghent in 1954, and started ...
and their team, he works on the development of an
M2e-based vaccine.
[Fiers W, Neirynck S, Deroo T, Saelens X, Jou WM, Soluble recombinant influenza vaccines, Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2001 Dec 29;356(1416):1961-3]
References
External links
Dr Xavier Saelens(EU Influenza research)
Xavier Saelens(VIB)
Universal flu vaccine being tested on humans17 July 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saelens, Xavier
Belgian virologists
1931 births
Living people
Ghent University alumni
Academic staff of Ghent University