Meet the speakers: Beerformatics Spring 2026
Beerformatics is back next Thursday to Leuven!
We are excited to welcome three speakers who will present their latest research spanning cancer biology, spatial transcriptomics, and neurodegeneration.
Yura Song - ๐๐ป๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐น๐น ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
Yura will present work investigating the early stages of prostate cancer initiation. Deletion of Pten in epithelial basal cells in mice triggers cell plasticity, lineage infidelity, and tumour formation, orchestrated by innate immunity activation and NF-ฮบB signalling in prostate basal stem cells. The findings provide insights with implications for human prostate cancer.
Yura is a computational biologist in the laboratory of Cรฉdric Blanpain at Universitรฉ libre de Bruxelles, studying molecular mechanisms and gene regulatory networks that regulate epithelial lineage plasticity in mammary and prostate tissues.
Geethika Arekatla - ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฝ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐๐บ๐ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐น๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐๐ฆ
Geethika will discuss how spatial transcriptomics can uncover disease mechanisms in ALS, a fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by motor neuron loss in the spinal cord. Because motor neurons represent only about 1% of all cells, they are difficult to capture with dissociative omics approaches. Spatial transcriptomics enables their characterization directly within tissue context.
Geethika is a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Neurobiology at VIB-KU Leuven Center For Neuroscience, working with multi-omics data to understand neurodegeneration. She previously completed her PhD in Systems Biology at ETH Zurich.
Julia Bandera - ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ฮณ-๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐๐๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐น๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟโ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ
Julia studies ฮณ-secretase, an intramembrane protease responsible for cleaving the amyloid precursor protein into amyloid-ฮฒ peptides. Mutations in this complex shift production toward longer fragments that form amyloid plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimerโs disease. Her work combines computational and experimental approaches to investigate the structural and molecular mechanisms underlying ฮณ-secretase dysfunction.
Julia completed a Masterโs in Bioinformatics at KU Leuven and is currently a PhD student in the Chรกvez-Gutiรฉrrez lab at VIB-KU Leuven Center For Neuroscience.
Join us for an evening of science, discussion, and beers. Spots are limited, register now: Registration link