Liesbet Geris

Research Group Leader

Brief Introduction

Liesbet Geris (DOB June 4th 1979) is Collen-Francqui Research Professor in Biomechanics and Computational Tissue Engineering at the university of Liège and KU Leuven in Belgium.  Her research focusses on the multi-scale and multi-physics modeling of biological processes. Together with her team and their clinical and industrial collaborators, she uses these models to investigate the etiology of non-healing fractures, to design in silico potential cell-based treatment strategies and to optimize manufacturing processes of these tissue engineering constructs. Liesbet is scientific coordinator of the Prometheus platform for Skeletal Tissue Engineering (50+ researchers). She has edited several books on computational modeling and tissue engineering. She has received 2 prestigious ERC grants (starting in 2011 and consolidator in 2017) to finance her research and has received a number of young investigator and research awards. In 2018, she was awarded the honorary citizenship of the city of Liège. She is a former member and chair of the Young Academy of Belgium (Flanders) and member of the strategic alliance committee of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Society. She is the current executive director of the Virtual Physiological Human Institute and in that capacity she advocates the use of in silico modeling in healthcare through liaising with the clinical community, the European Commission and Parliament, regulatory agencies (EMA, FDA) and various other stakeholders. Besides her research work, she is often invited to give public lectures on the challenges of interdisciplinary in research, women in academia and digital healthcare.

Research Interests

  • Computational tissue engineering
  • In silico medicine
  • Systems biology
  • Biomechanics
  • Bioreactors
  • Bioprocessing
  • Bone and cartilage regeneration
  • Multiscale and multiphysics modeling

Appointments

  • 2017-2020: Collen-Francqui research professorship at the University of Liège
  • 2017-current: Executive Director of the Virtual Physiological Human Institute (http://www.vph-institute.org)
  • 2014-2021: Tissue Engineering Program Leader of the Skeletal Biology and Engineering, Research Center of the KU Leuven, Belgium
  • 2013-current: Part-time professor (20%) at the KU Leuven, Belgium
  • 2011-current: Scientific coordinator of Prometheus (50+ researchers), KU Leuven, Belgium
  • 2010-2013: Guest professor at the KU Leuven, Belgium
  • 2009-current: Full professor (tenured in 2011) at the University of Liège (ULg), Belgium
  • 2009-current: Member of management board of Prometheus
  • 2007-2010: Postdoctoral Research Fellow of the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO-VL)
  • 2003-2007: Research Assistant of the Research Foundation – Flanders

Publications

Repository of the University of Liège (ORBi)
Repository of the KU Leuven (LIRIAS)
Google Scholar
Scopus
ORCID

Publication highlights:

  • 116 international peer-reviewed publications published or in press. Impact factors: 1.231-43.07, total number of citations: 3731, h-index: 35 (Google Scholar, dd. 12/8/2021).
  • 19 chapters in books
  • > 200 full papers and abstracts in international conference proceedings
  • Editor of book ‘Computational Modeling in Tissue Engineering’, Springer, 2012, ISBN 978-3-642-32562-5.
  • Editor of book ‘Uncertainty in Biology: a computational modeling approach’ (together with David Gomez-Cabrero), Springer, 2015. ISBN 978-3-319-21295-1

Patents:

  • PCT/EP2018/064254, WO2018220051: Engineering functional bone organs. Luyten F., Freitas Mendes L., Nilsson Hall G., Papantoniou I., Geris L.

Contact

liesbet.geris [at] uliege.be

liesbet.geris [at] kuleuven.be

B34 GIGA-R : In Silico Medicine
Quartier Hôpital
Avenue de l’Hôpital 1
4000 Liège 1
Belgium

Honors & Awards

  • InspiringFifty Belgium 2022: top fifty women excelling in tech careers across Belgium
  • Scientific Award AstraZeneca Foundation – New strategies in regenerative medicine 2021 (2021)
  • Member of #TeamVesalius visionaries in life sciences & health, chosen by Flanders Investment & Trade (2021)
  • Commander in the order of King Leopold, Belgium (2019)
  • Robert Brown Early Career Principal Investigator Award 2019, TERMIS-EU
  • Chosen as 1 of 3 European Leading Scientists in Tissue Engineering to write a prospective on the future of TE at the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the society’s journal
  • Awarded Honorary Citizenship of the city of Liège (2018)
  • Marcel Linsman Prize for Biomedical Engineering of the Association of Engineering graduated at the University of Liège (2018)
  • Prize of the Biotechnologie Fonds – Fond de Biotechnologie for Bioinformatics and Computational Science (2017)
  • Awarded a research professor mandate by the Collen-Francqui Foundation Belgium (2017-2020)
  • Invited as expert on digital health to the Europa Forum Lech organized by European Commissioner Oettinger
  • Top 25 most promising scientists 2015 Belgium-Netherlands (ranking by The Scientist NL)
  • IAMBE-IFMBE Early Career Award 2015
  • Selected as member of the Young Academy (Jonge Academie) of Belgium (2013-2018), Board member, responsible for the interdisciplinarity (2013-2015), Co-chair (2015-2017)
  • Selected as member of the Young Academy of Europe (2012-2017)
  • Taylor & Francis prize for Outstanding innovation in computer methods in biomechanics & biomedical engineering 2010
  • Recipient of the IFMBE Young Investigator Award 2008 (1st prize)
  • Recipient of the BNCM-Best Ph.D. Thesis Prize 2007 of the Belgian National Committee for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
  • Recipient of the ESB student award (1st prize) 2006, 5th World Congress of Biomechanics, Munich, Germany
  • Recipient of the award for the best oral student presentation 2006, 7th International Symposium on Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, Antibes, France
  • Recipient of the award for the best poster 2005, European Conference on Mathematical and Theoretical Biology, Dresden, Germany
  • Recipient of the award for the best oral student presentation 2004, 6th International Symposium on Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, Madrid, Spain
  • Recipient of the award for the best oral student presentation 2003, European Cells and Materials Conference IV, Davos, Switzerland
  • Laureate student awards 2003 of the Royal Flemish Engineering Society KVIV, recipient of the Silver Engineering Award
  • Laureate 2002 of the Biomedical Society (Society for Biomedical Techniques and Health Care, Technological Institute of the Royal Flemish Engineering Society KVIV)
  • Recipient of several travel awards to attend conferences and workshops: ECMTB05 (Dresden, Germany, 2005); IPAM workshop on Angiogenesis, NeoVascularization and Morphogenesis (UCLA, USA, 2006); Euroconference – Which Mathematics for Biology? (Anogia, Crete, 2006)
  • Finalist of the Belgian Biology Olympiad 1997