Lisa Demoen

research interests

Patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) produce too much of a particular blood cell, i.e. red blood cells, platelets or certain white blood cells. Additionally, these patients have an elevated risk to develop a secondary acute myeloid leukaemia (sAML), also known as blast phase MPN (MPN-BP). MPN-BP is an aggressive form of leukaemia with a median survival of less than six months. Therefore, the aim of my research is to identify novel therapeutic strategies and investigate why MPN sometimes transforms into an aggressive leukaemia.

background

I completed my BSc and MSc in Biochemistry and Biotechnology at the University of Antwerp (Belgium). In my masters I became interested in epigenetics, therefore I went on an Erasmus program at the DKFZ in Heidelberg (Germany) to conduct the internship for my master dissertation. During my time there, I explored epigenetic change in the differentiation of adipocytes. After my masters, I completed my PhD in Ghent University (Belgium) in which I researched the role of the KMT2A-complex members in the context of T-cell lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL).