Vincent Pasque

Background

About Vincent Pasque

I am a stem cell and developmental biologist interested in how cells become different from one another in early mammalian life, and how these processes fail in reproductive and other diseases. I grew up in Brussels, studied Biochemistry in Liège, Belgium, before moving to the UK for my doctoral work (PhD in developmental biology, University of Cambridge). My postdoctoral work was carried out at UCLA before returning to Europe to join the Faculty of KU Leuven in 2015. My lab has made several contributions that start to unravel the mechanisms of early mammalian embryogenesis, pluripotency, cellular reprogramming and gene dosage compensation on the X chromosome. Our work uses pluripotent stem cells that can propagate indefinitely in the laboratory and maintain the capacity to differentiate and model the early embryo. We found a way to model cells of the early human postimplantation embryo starting from pluripotent stem cells, and to use this system to study early human embryogenesis at a time when many pregnancies fail. We have also obtained insights into the proteins that regulate cell identity in early human embryogenesis and pluripotency. We have discovered that mammalian cells have the capacity to sense the number of active X chromosomes they have and adapt gene expression dosage accordingly, providing insights into genetic diseases. We are particularly excited about 2D and 3D human embryo models including blastoids. We also use mice for advanced genetic studies. We are currently looking at the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms that underlie the development of human embryos in the first two weeks of human life, mainly using stem cell models and single-cell omics. Our hope is that we can use the fundamental insights we obtain to develop improved treatments and therapies in reproductive and regenerative medicine. The work in our lab is supported by grants from national organizations, including prestigious grants from FWO including the Odysseus Programme and EOS.