VITO - Flemish Institute for Technological Research
VITO, the Flemish institute for technological research, is an independent research centre
VITO conducts customer oriented contract research and develops innovative products and processes in the fields of energy, environment and materials, and this for both the public and the private sector. Central to all projects are protecting the environment and encouraging sustainable use of energy and raw materials
VITO’s mission is defined as follows:
VITO is a research institution, which, for the benefit of government, industry and SMEs, stimulates sustainable technological development in the fields of energy, environment and materials.
VITO implements client-driven research projects and develops innovative products and processes. Its clients, companies and governmental organisations, are provided with solutions and advice for their problems and needs. The multidisciplinary skills and technological know-how of more than 440 researchers make this organisation a crossroads of technology, where state-of-the-art technologies are successfully blended into practical applications. Specific problems are addressed within VITO’s own 10 centres of expertise dealing with energy consumption in processes, new materials and environmental protection and innovation. One of these is the Environmental Toxicology centre. The research proposal is consistent with the current research policy of the department: evaluation and prediction of human health effects due to environmental pollution from non-ionising radiation, poly-aromatic hydrocarbons and dioxins. The department has experience in murine and human immuno-haemopoietic cell culture techniques, in vitro cell culture, flowcytometry and molecular techniques. Our laboratory is well equipped for cell culture work and the use of human material.The department has already been involved in a number of EU projects in the past.
Project role
VITO will be responsible for the immunological part of the project.We will study placenta and blood samples collected by partners 2, 3 and 6. We will be the principal investigator for the fetal sensitisation workpackage.We will study proliferative cell responses and Th1/Th2 cytokine responses in maternal peripheral and cord blood mononuclear cells following allergen stimulation and the Th1/Th2 cytokine profile in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from offspring.
The Team
Dr Rosette Van Den Heuvel, PhD, project leader and senior scientist; experience over the last 15 years in haematotoxicology and in vitro culture systems; successful participation in EU projects in the past in the field of radiobiology; currently partner Validation study supported by Ecvam.Responsibility for cell culture and immunological techniques and flowcytometry in WP2 and 5.
Dr Geert Verheyen, PhD, senior scientist, experience over the last 10 years in molecular biology techniques and successful contribution to EU projects in the past in the field of psychiatric genetics.Responsible for cytokine mRNA analysis in WP2 and 5.
Dr Greet Schoeters, PhD, is responsible for the Expertise centre of Environmental Toxicology at Vito (Flemish Institute for Technological Research) since 1994.She is member of the COST technical committee of environment and of the INVITOX scientific committee. She participated in several EU-environment projects and radiation protection projects, more recently also in validation projects of in vitro toxicity tests coördinated by ECVAM. She is involved in national projects on environmental health using human biomonitoring studies, on environmental risk assessment and toxicity measurements applied on environmental samples . She gives advice in various governemental committees ( eg. dioxin crisis committee, committee on waste incinerators ). She teaches environmental risk assessment at the university of Antwerp.
Other team members
Hilde Leppens, technician
Daniëlla Ooms, technician
Jean-Marie Nuyten, technician
Site updated 24 March, 2004
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