Member info

• FACULTY:
  Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
• DEPARTMENT:
  Biomolecular Medicine (GE31)
• RESEARCH GROUP:
  Center for Medical Genetics, RARE-MED consortium
• FUNCTION:
  Assistant Professor
• WORK ADDRESS:
  Center for Medical Genetics, Ghent University Hospital, Medical Research Building 1 (MRB1), Entrance 34, Corneel Heymanslaan 10 9000 Ghent, Belgium
• PUBLICATIONS:
  ORCID
• SUMMARY:
  I am affiliated with the Center for Medical Genetics Ghent (CMGG), one of the renowned expert genetics centers in Belgium. I was appointed assistant professor in October 2019 within the RARE-MED consortium at Ghent University, to study the role of the noncoding part of the genome in rare disorders. This consortium brings together clinical and lab experts to spearhead the research regarding rare disorders. My PhD, under the supervision of Prof dr Geert Mortier (UA, Antwerp, Belgium) and Prof dr ir Björn Menten (UGent, Ghent, Belgium), focused on the implementation of new techniques for the detection of structural variation in the genome of patients with neurodevelopmental disorders. These genomic studies triggered my interest to functionally unravel the molecular causes of neurodevelopmental disorders. Therefore, during my postdoc, I shifted to functional work. I successfully introduced CRISPR-Cas9 genome engineering, human embryonic stem cells culture and neuronal differentiation, 4C-sequencing and several other functional assays within my research group. With my research group dedicated to research in the field of gene discovery and gene regulation in neurodevelopmental disorders, I hope to become a driving force behind the RARE-MED consortium and a direct link between research, diagnostics and the clinic.
• EMAIL:
  Sarah.vergult@ugent.be
• WEBLINK:
  https://www.debaerelab.com/sarah-vergult.html