Management Board
President
Steven Van Cruchten
Steven is president of BelTox and a Veterinarian degree and a PhD in Veterinary Sciences from UGhent.
He is Professor of Comparative Perinatal Development at the University of Antwerp.
He has 15 years of experience in reproductive and developmental toxicology, focusing on the development of New Approach Methodologies and animal models for safety testing of drugs during pregnancy and early childhood.
Vice-president
François Huaux
François is vice-president of Beltox and is Professor of toxicology affiliated with Louvain Centre for Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology (LTAP) at UCLouvain.
He is also a senior research associate for FNRS (Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique) and Principal Investigator in immunotoxicology and human health.
Secretary
Erik Van Miert
Erik is secretary of Beltox and holds a MSc degree in biochemistry (UAntwerp) and his PhD in Public Health (UC Louvain).
He started his career as inhalation toxicologist and study director.
He is senior regulatory toxicologist involved in regulatory (eco-)toxicology and risk assessment at Solvay SA.
Treasurer
An Van Rompay
An is treasurer of BelTox and holds a MSc degree in Chemistry (KdG) and a PhD in Molecular Biology/Virology (Karolinska Institute).
She is Principal Toxicologist at Penman Consulting BVBA.
She is the technical lead for REACH consortia’s and companies for projects related to regulatory, technical and scientific services for the chemical, petrochemical, plant protection, pharmaceutical, detergents, cosmetics and fine chemical Industries.
Public Relations
Mieke Van Mulders
Mieke is reponsible for the Public Relations of BelTox and holds a MSc degree in Biomedical sciences.
She works as a scientist at Sciensano and the VUB.
She is working on the RE-Place project which has the goal to collect the available expertise on the use of alternative methods to animal testing, also known as ‘New Approach Methodologies’, into one central database in Belgium.
Via this project, she is actively promoting the use of NAMs in BE.
Support
Viella Krieckemans
Viella is responsible for the secretariat of BelTox and holds a Bachelor degree in Marketing (KdG) and a postgratuate in event management (Katholieke Hogeschool Mechelen).
She provides administrative support to the Management Board and ad-hoc working groups of the Steering Committee.
She ensures that all questions are directed to the right experts.
Steering Committee Members
João Alves Barbosa
Arno Gutleb
Arno holds a Veterinarian degree and a PhD in Environmental Sciences and Toxicology from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna and Wageningen University, respectively.
He is Head of the Group Environmental Health of the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology.
He has over 30 years of experience in the development of in vitro assays.
Neslihan Aygun Kocabas
Francesca Tencalla
Francesca was the previous president of BelTox and holds a MSc degree in (Eco)toxicology (University of Lausanne) and PhD in (Eco)toxicology (ETH).
She is the director and co-owner of ToxMinds BVBA.
She is also the technical lead for the company’s projects related to the human health and environmental evaluation of chemicals, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, biocides, and pesticides.
Mark Martens
Mark was the previous secretary of Beltox and holds a MSc degree in Pharmacy and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Ghent University.
He is a consultant in preclinical development and toxicology with more than 45 years of experience in the safety assessment of drugs, pesticides and industrial chemicals.
Previously he was Beltox president from 2005 till 2014.
Miranda Cornet
Miranda was the previous treasurer of BelTox and holds a MSc degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences and a PhD in Toxicology from VUB.
She is a senior toxicologist with proven expertise in safety assessment of pharmaceuticals, and the Director Non-clinical Safety Evaluation at UCB Biopharma.
Previously she was BelTox President from 2015 till 2020.
Jacques de Gerlache
Jacques holds a MSc degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from UCLouvain.
He is Professor of ecotoxicology and environmental management at the Institut Paul Lambin.
He has many years of experience as an (eco)toxicologist in an international chemical company, and is Manager of Greenfacts.
Vitalina Gryshkova
Sébastien Cambier
Monica Autiero
Monica holds a PhD in Molecular Biology (University ‘Paris XI’, Paris).
She is Senior Consultant at ToxMinds BVBA and leads the company’s efforts in the area of non-animal based safety assessments with particular focus on (Q)SAR modelling and identifying analogue and read across-based hazard assessment approaches.
Matteo Creta
Julie Muller
Ruth Moeller
Ruth holds a MSc degree in Toxicology.
She is a Senior Regulatory Toxicologist working at the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST).
She has more than 15 years of experience in toxicology, human health risk assessment and regulatory science.
Sonja Beken
Sonja holds a MSc degree in Biology and PhD in Pharmacy (both VUB).
She is the team coordinator of non-clinical assessors at the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products, and has over 20 years of experience in the evaluation of non-clinical data submitted to support all phases of drug development.
She is actively involved in international initiatives for regulatory implementation of 3R testing paradigms.