Collen-Francqui Chair 24-25 : Prof. dr. Pierre Coulie

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Pierre Coulie is emeritus full professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the Université catholique de Louvain.

 

He obtained his medical degree in 1982 from the UCLouvain. He then joined the de Duve Institute under the mentorship of the  immunologist Professor Jacques Van Snick, producing the first B cell hybridomas in Belgium. In 1989 he joined the group of Professor Thierry Boon.

 

Coulie is a pioneer in the discovery of cancer antigens. He found the first human tumor antigen encoded by a mutated gene, a class of antigens now referred to as neoepitopes. His group discovered melanoma-associated antigens, known as MAGE antigens, with Melan-A/MART-1 as the most immunogenic. Focusing then on the immunological analyses of melanoma patients vaccinated with MAGE antigens, he found that even in those patients who benefited clinically from peptide vaccines the antivaccine T cell responses were surprisingly weak. However they were accompanied by much stronger responses against tumor-specific antigens absent from the vaccine. This ‘antigen-spreading’ has since been observed in most clinical settings of tumor-specific active or passive immunizations. It became a key element of the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy but also a confounding factor for its immunological monitoring.

 

In 2019 Professor Pierre Coulie became the President of the Académie Royale de Médecine de Belgique. Since 2016 he chairs the Board of Directors at the Stichting tegen Kanker - Fondation contre le Cancer.

www.francquifoundation.be

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Inaugural lecture

The inaugural speech will take place on Wednesday 5 March 2025 at 4 p.m. in auditorium B - Andreas Vesalius on the Heymans site campus, block A (Fac. of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ottergemsesteenweg 460, 9000 Ghent).

Cancer immunotherapy: from dreams to first clinical successes and more to come 

Program

16:00 - 17:30: Inaugural lecture

→ Welcome speech by Prof. Dr. Jan Van Bocxlaer, Dean of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences

→ Introduction by Prof. Dr. Stefaan De Smedt, Department of Pharmaceutics

→ Inaugural lecture by Prof. Dr. Pierre Coulie

→ Presentation of the UGent medal 

17:30 - 19:00: Reception

Planned lectures 

Cancer vaccines and cancer immunotherapy are the themes of the series of lectures.

The lectures will be bundled into sessions that deal with 1. the potential of tumor antigens in cancer immunotherapy, 2. the causes of the sometimes failed immunotherapy in the treatment of cancer and 3. cell therapy for cancer treatment. A symposium on cancer vaccines will follow in the fall of 2025. 

    

Inaugural lecture: Cancer immunotherapy: from dreams to first clinical successes and more to come.

March 5, 2025: 4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. auditorium B - Andreas Vesalius - Block A - Fac. Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University

 

Session 1: On tumor antigens to be used for cancer immunotherapy. 

March 26, 2025: 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. Room -1.11 - Pharmacy - Block B - Fac. Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University

 

Session 2: Reasons for failures in cancer immunotherapy. 

April 2, 2025: 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.  Room -1.11 – Pharmacy – Block B – Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University

 

Session 3: Cellular immunotherapy against cancer. 

April 23, 2025: 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.  Room -1.11 – Pharmacy – Block B – Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University

 

Symposium ‘Cancer vaccines: academic and clinical activities in Belgium’ 

Fall 2025 – date and location will be communicated later


Everyone is welcome. For more information, contact prof. dr. Stefaan De Smedt (email: Stefaan.Desmedt@ugent.be).