Xavier Saelens is a Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 scientist and currently his main research interest is finding a universal influenza

Influenza

Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...

 vaccine

Vaccine

A vaccine is a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism, and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe or its toxins...

. He is a Lecturer in Virology and Group Leader of the Molecular Virology Unit at the University of Ghent (Ghent

Ghent

Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...

, Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

)

Education

He obtained a Bachelor's degree in Biology

Biology

Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...

 at the University of Ghent in 1985, and a Master's degree in Biotechnology

Biotechnology

Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...

 and also a PhD in Biotechnology (1990) and he is the father of Ganna and Emma Saelens.

Career

He worked as a Postdoc at the University of Ghent from 1990 until 2004 and he is VIB Project Leader since 2005. His current research focuses on the development and characterisation of novel influenza A and B vaccines. Together with Walter Fiers

Walter Fiers

Walter Fiers is a Belgian molecular biologist.He obtained a degree of Engineer for Chemistry and Agricultural Industries at the University of Ghent in 1954, and started his research career as an enzymologist in the laboratory of Laurent Vandendriessche in Ghent. In 1956-57, he worked with Heinz...

 and their team, he works on the development of an M2e

M2 protein

The M2 protein is a proton-selective ion channel protein, integral in the viral envelope of the influenza A virus. The channel itself is a homotetramer , where the units are helices stabilized by two disulfide bonds...

-based vaccine.

External links

• Dr Xavier Saelens (EU Influenza research)
• Xavier Saelens (VIB)
• Universal flu vaccine being tested on humans 17 July 2007