Liaising to Strategic Translational Initiatives Concerning Biobanking and Clinical Research & Innovation

Sofie Bekaert is Manager Translational Program at VIB, where she coordinates the Grand Challenges Program, and senior lecturer at Ghent University’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.

The professor was trained as a doctor in Applied Biological Engineering. After 10 years of research – setting up a research platform on biological aging, next generation sequencing and biomarkers – she became Valorisation and Innovation Manager at Ghent University. In 2010, Bekaert initiated the Clinical Research Center at Ghent University Hospital, where she led a dedicated team that was the central point of contact for the facilitation of different aspects of translational biomedical research. Such as ethico-legal issues, data management and monitoring of clinical trials, research and innovation management within the hospital, biobanking and big data.

Prof. Bekaert is liaising to strategic translational initiatives concerning biobanking and clinical research and innovation, both within and across borders. She was president of the Board of Directors of the Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure, the Belgian node within the European biobank infrastructure network, and is now councillor at the European Society for Biopreservation and Biobanking. She is also involved in multiple societal valorisation projects concerning stakeholder involvement and research participation (e.g. EUPATI and King Baudouin Foundation).