Called to Science

In five brand-new episodes, you'll meet researchers whose paths into science are anything but straightforward. Think a lifelong promise shaped by personal loss, a journey from first-generation student to grant expert, what it takes to be an expert, and careers that cross continents, disciplines, and even worlds, from the lab bench to European policy. Along the way, you will hear about doubt, teamw...

For Laurent Galibert, drug discovery was never just a career choice. It was a promise. In this episode, Laurent shares how a personal loss shaped his path in science, why doubt is part of making good decisions, and how teamwork keeps drug discovery moving forward, even when success is far from certain. At VIB Discovery Sciences, Laurent helps turn early scientific ideas into opportunities that cou...

What does it take to go from first-generation everything to grant guru? In this episode, Ayşe Candayan shares her path from Turkey to Antwerp and reflects on the people and places that helped shape her into the scientist she is today. From strong female role models to the life-changing opportunity of the Darüşşafaka Schools, this is a story about talent, ambition, and what can happen when someone...

What do baseball, plant genome editing, and failure have in common? More than you might think. In this episode, Thomas Jacobs talks about growing up with a love for plants and baseball, following his curiosity from the US to Belgium, and building a career in plant genome editing at the VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology. His approach to science is refreshingly straightforward: expect thing...

From mosaics to moyamoya disease, and from the lab bench to the European Commission. In this episode, Lia Martina shares her journey from a small Italian town to the world of biology and proteomics. Today, Lia works as a policy officer at the European Commission on the European Health Data Space, helping turn big ideas into something that works for people across Europe. One of her clearest success...

How do you become the person everyone goes to when things get tricky in the lab? In this episode, Inge Van Molle shares how she became a structural biologist, a lab expert, and, by the sound of it, a bit of a responsibility magnet. From building up experience in Belgium and Cambridge to becoming the person colleagues turn to for structural and biophysical questions, her story is about saying yes,...

Behind every discovery lies a story, of curiosity, values, and perseverance. In the second season of Called to Science, we go deeper into the lives of scientists at VIB. From the clinic to the lab bench, from Mexico City to Belgium, from business development to social media, these researchers share how science shapes their lives and how their lives shape science. Hosted by science journalist Bradl...

For Ruben Vazquez-Uribe, science is not about titles or publications, but about meaning. From Mexico City to the Netherlands, Denmark, and now Belgium, Ruben has carried his passion for microbes around the world, looking for ways they can benefit society, from food to sustainability. As a staff scientist at the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Microbiology, Ruben brings not only his research but also his...

For Bart Lambrecht, the most exciting discoveries happen where science and medicine meet. As director of the VIB Center for Inflammation Research and a leading expert on asthma and allergies, Bart thrives on the constant back-and-forth between patient care and the lab bench. In this episode, Bart shares what it means to be a physician-scientist, why fly fishing and research require the same patien...

Not every inspiring career in science requires a PhD. Elina Kuznecova has built a path that challenges expectations, from leaving her home country at a young age to working in high-tech labs at leading institutes across Europe. Now a lab technician at the VIB Spatial Catalyst, Elina reflects on the choices that shaped her career and the lessons she learned along the way. She also shares how failur...

From the lab bench to the boardroom, Jiska van der Reest has learned to navigate both the scientific and the business side of research. After studies in the Netherlands, Glasgow, and Harvard Medical School, she focused on cancer metabolism before making the leap into business development at VIB. In this episode, Jiska talks about what it means to bridge science and society, why business innovation...

For Milton Antwi, moving abroad is never without challenges, but every change brings growth. Fresh from completing his PhD at the VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology, Milton reflects on his journey researching treatments for fatty liver disease while navigating life across borders. In this episode, Milton shares how music and science overlap, why collaboration fuels discovery, and why takin...

Stay tuned for the release of the first season on 29 April! Called to Science uncovers the untold stories of the people pushing the boundaries of life sciences. Hosted by science journalist Brad van Paridon, the podcast goes beyond the research to explore the passion, setbacks, and big questions that drive scientists forward.  The first season features in-depth conversations with researchers...

Some careers follow a plan; Erin Tranfield’s did not. Now Head of the VIB BioImaging Core Ghent, she grew up on a cattle ranch in Canada, where a love for photography eventually transformed into a passion for microscopy and science. Her relentless curiosity took her to NASA and cutting-edge research labs across Europe.  A self-proclaimed microscopy nerd, Erin talks about the similarities betw...

Bart De Strooper is now a trailblazing Alzheimer's researcher, but his path wasn’t always clear. His journey started early. From a young age, he was mesmerized by science, conducting experiments at home and drawing inspiration from comic books. Although he initially embarked on a medical degree, his heart soon led him to fundamental research. A blend of serendipity and mentorship steered him towar...

In this episode, we sit down with Colinda Scheele, a researcher who focuses on the earliest stages of cancer, revealing the fundamental biology of how healthy cells transform into tumors at VIB-KU Leuven. She believes that to truly conquer cancer, we must first understand how cancer begins and ultimately, how to stop it before it even starts.  Colinda’s curiosity and a deep drive to understan...

Fueled by curiosity and a passion to decode life, Stein Aerts became a pioneer in AI and computational biology at VIB-KU Leuven. There, he combines genetics, data analysis, and artificial intelligence to try and get to the root of understanding biological systems. Among many other things, his research led to the development of the Cell Atlas of the fruit fly, a powerful tool mapping which genes ar...

In this episode, we talk to Joleen Masschelein, who is exploring the biosynthetic ingenuity of microbes at VIB-KU Leuven, trying to uncover new antibiotics and bioactive compounds.   Joleen’s fascination with bacteria took off during her master’s research, when she contributed to the discovery of an antibiotic in bacteria collected from a student restaurant. This set her on a lifelong mi...