Astrid Deryckere

Experience

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  Linny's ice and waffles

  Jan 2009 - Aug 2015

  Job Student
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  Lab of Developmental Neurobiology, KU Leuven

  Dec 2014 - Jun 2016

  The iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) competition – the biggest competition in the field of synthetic biology – gathers interdisciplinary student teams from all over the world in order to improve and develop innovative micro-organisms. This year, from 24 to 28 September 2015, over 280 teams met in Boston (USA) to present their projects and compete for prestigious prizes and medals.Our team consisted of 13 motivated students from 5 different faculties.We scored a gold medal, were second in our track (New Applications) and were nominated for Best Education and Public Engagement, Best Poster and Best Model.Experience: Education, Symposium, Wet Lab, Literature Show less

  • Thesis Student

    Oct 2015 - Jun 2016

  • Education and Outreach responsible

    Dec 2014 - Sept 2015
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  ReMYND NV

  Feb 2015 - Jun 2015

  Internship

  Internship in the Drug Discovery and Development department, testing compound efficiency in (primary) cell culture for Alzheimer disease

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  KU Leuven

  Jan 2017 - Jan 2021

  During my PhD, I helped designing the first laboratory rearing system for Octopus vulgaris eggs and mapped embryonic development using state-of-the-art microscopy techniques. Additionally, I discovered that neural stem cells are located outside the central brain in cephalopods and named this donut-shaped region the lateral lips. I then described migration of postmitotic neurons towards the brain and initiated the description of this process.Guided students throughout their bachelor and master thesis.Organized and thought practical course of developmental biology for 3rd bachelor students.Responsible for the light sheet microscope (including communication with the company and training of students across the division)Collaborations with labs at KU Leuven (contributor to 2 publications), in Italy (Statione Zoologica) for training, and Tenerife (Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO)) for designing the aquatics facility and rearing of octopus eggs Show less

  • Postdoctoral Researcher

    Jan 2021 - Jan 2021

  • Member of the Departmental council of Biology

    Sept 2019 - Jan 2021

  • Member of the Animal Welfare Body

    Jan 2018 - Jan 2021

  • Member of the Faculty Council

    Dec 2017 - Jan 2021

  • FWO-SB PhD Fellowship at KU Leuven

    Jan 2017 - Dec 2020
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  Columbia University in the City of New York

  Feb 2021 - now

  Postdoctoral Research Fellow

  Fascinated by the diversity of nervous systems across the animal tree, during my PhD I studied how the complex octopus brain evolved independently from ours. To add an evolutionary comparative approach to better understand vertebrate forebrain development and expansion, for my postdoctoral training I envisaged to work with species in the understudied, but key evolutionary class of amphibians. Such a comparative approach is essential to identify general principles for establishing neuronal diversity and circuits. Leveraging its miniature vertebrate brain and key evolutionary position, the salamander is a promising model to better understand how vertebrate nervous systems develop and evolve. Additionally, Tosches lab applies approaches at multiple biological levels (cell types, connectivity, behavior) to unveil general principles of brain evolution, facilitating expanding my technical skills including single-cell RNA-sequencing data generation and analysis.Peer reviewer of 5 scientific publications.Guided undergraduate students in their summer internship.Collaborative research within the lab (5 first author publication), with Satija lab (New York Genome Center), working with a bio-informatics Postdoc enhanced communication of biology and bio-informatics, and across the globe (EDGE grant) optimizing Adeno Associated Virus transduction in the amphibian nervous system (publication in prep). Show less