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 Senior Product Compliance Specialist at Avery Dennison België BV.
She supports customers in all their Product Compliance related questions.
She guides the R&D teams to make the best chemical raw material choices for the products.
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
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 worked 10 years as Group Leader Environmental Health at the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology developing in vitro assays with a focus on the alveolar region of the lung. Arno is Professor at the University Iuliu Hatieganu and Visiting Professor at the Universidad Andrés Bello. He is now Managing Director of Invitrolize.
Joao Alves Barbosa
João holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and a PhD in Bioscience Engineering. In his current position as a postdoctoral researcher at Blue Growth Research Lab, Ghent University, he focuses in assessing environmental and human health via the combination of in silico, in vitro and in vivo methods, aiming to advance our understanding of the interactions between ecosystems and public health.
Neslihan Aygün Kocabaş
Neslihan Aygün is a toxicologist with extensive experience in academia and industry. She holds a PhD in Pharmacogenetics (Newcastle upon Tyne University and Gazi University) and is a European Registered Toxicologist. With a career spanning over two decades, she has worked in academia, research, and leading chemical companies. Currently, she manages toxicology at TotalEnergies and contributes to EU REACH regulations. Dr. Kocabaş has authored 52 scientific publications and holds academic positions in Turkey, Belgium, and the US.
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 UGhent.
Mark is a retiree from Johnson&Johnson and was 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
Vitalina holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, National Academy of Science (Kyiv, Ukraine) and a postgraduate degree in Medicines Development Sciences (Pharmed, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)).
She is a board-certified toxicologist (DABT) with several years of pharmaceutical industry experience in investigative toxicology and non-clinical safety assessment of small molecules, biologics, and novel modalities.
Her current position is a Non-clinical Safety Lead at UCB Biopharma.
Sébastien Cambier
Sebastien holds a PhD in Ecotoxicology from the University of Bordeaux. He is a researcher in the Group Environmental Health of the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology. He focuses in assessing environmental and human health impact of chemicals aiming to advance our understanding of the interactions between the chemical and biological models while adhering the 3R principles.
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
Matteo Creta holds a MSC in Pharmacy (Sapienza University) and PhD in Biomedical Science (KUL) concerning the assessment of chemicals exposure in occupational and environmental settings.
Currently, as Technical Responsible at Laboratoire National de Santé (Luxembourg), I am in charge of the exposure assessment to inorganic and organic chemicals and the evaluation of their impact on human health for the National Health Surveillance in Luxembourg.
Julie Muller
Julie holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences with an orientation in Toxicology, Genetic and Immunology from the Faculty of Médecine at the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) in Brussels, Belgium. She is Senior Consultant at ToxMinds and has more than 10 years of professional experience as toxicologist, regulatory expert and HSE manager. She brings in a wealth of experience in the toxicological risk assessment of chemical substance including nanomaterials and EU Chemicals Regulations.
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.
Riet Van Deun
Riet holds a MSC degree in Bioscience engineering from KU Leuven.
She is Managing Director at Agirad BV.
She is consultant in toxicology with experience in toxicological study monitoring, toxicological dossier preparation, and toxicological risk assessments of chemicals, pharmaceuticals and medical devices.
Jacques-Aurélien Sergent
Jacques-Aurélien Sergent holds a M.Sc in Biomedical Ethics and a PhD in molecular and Cellular Biology (Univ Cergy Pontoise) and a PhD in biomedical Sciences (Univ Montréal). He is a Toxicologist working for Solvay SA for more than 10 years, specialized with nanomaterials. He supports different businesses worldwide, from the research to the market regulatory dossiers (REACh, Cosmetics, Food, Feed) for Physico Chemistry Environmental fate and (Eco-)Toxicology.
Freddy Van Goethem
Freddy holds a MSc degree in Biology and PhD in Cellular & Genetic Toxicology (Vrije Universiteit Brussel). After a post-doc project focussing on the identification and validation of new sensitive biomarkers for human exposure to heavy metals, he started a Janssen Pharmaceutica (J&J).
He has more than 25 years of experience in the development and implementation of New Approach Methodologies to identify and de-risk safety liabilities in the different phases of drug development.
After returning to the VUB, in his current role as Business Developer and Sr. Researcher, he supports different research groups focussing on the development of liver therapeutics and advanced in vitro models as part of a next generation risk assessment strategy.
Steven Verberckmoes
Steven Verberckmoes is a toxicologist with a PhD in medical sciences from the University of Antwerp. He specializes in the toxicology of strontium and organ calcification. Currently, he leads scientific development at Umicore, a materials technology company, focusing on regulatory dossiers for metal-containing chemicals. Steven is also active in European toxicology organizations, including Eurotox and Beltox.
Valérie Cornet
Dr. Valérie Cornet is a postdoctoral researcher at UNamur, specializing in aquatic ecotoxicology. Her research focuses on the impacts of environmental pollutants, particularly microplastics, on zebrafish reproduction, immunity, and larval development. She uses molecular and phenotypic analyses to investigate these effects. Dr. Cornet is also involved in a project studying the effects of global warming on Atlantic salmon reintroduction.