Biographical sketch Ann Huysseune

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH    Ann Huysseune    (° 1957, Belgium)

Ann Huysseune studied biology at Ghent University where she obtained her Ph.D. in 1986 on development and structure of pharyngeal jaws in cichlid fishes. She did postdoctoral work for a brief period with Brian Hall in Halifax (Canada) and spent much time in Paris for collaborative work. 

She was appointed as a faculty member at Ghent University in 1995. She is currently full professor and head of the biology department, with a staff of 200 people. Her own research group (Evolutionary Developmental Biology) has currently 6 Ph.D. students, undergraduate students, one full-time and two part-time technicians

Her research interests are focused on the development, structure and evolution of the skeleton, with particular attention for teeth. She uses various teleost fish and other non-mammalian species to study evo-devo aspects of skeletal tissues and skeletal elements. Current studies focus on the dermal skeleton (including the teeth) and on the vertebral column.

These interests are also reflected in the current, externally funded, research projects. They focus on (i) the evolutionary origin of the vertebrate dentition, on (ii) continuous tooth replacement in non-mammalian vertebrates, its molecular control and the possible involvement of epithelial stem cells, and (iii) on the role of cell adhesion-mediated signaling in craniofacial development. One project involves an evo-devo study of normal and pathological fusion of vertebrae in bony fish. Connected with this research, she has collaborations in the US, Canada, Singapore, Norway, France and Portugal. Following her research interests, she teaches developmental biology and evolutionary developmental biology to biology students. 

She was organiser or co-organiser of several meetings and workshops (e.g. Second Meeting of the European Society for Evolutionary Developmental Biology, Ghent, 2008) and member of a scientific committee many times. She attended around 55 international congresses (15 times invited speaker), presented seminars at over 15 foreign universities or research institutes and published more than 60 peer reviewed papers.