Marc Ferrante, MD, PhD
Gastroenterology
Prof. Dr. Marc Ferrante is full professor at KU Leuven (Leuven, Belgium) and staff member of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University Hospitals Leuven since 2012. He is a lecturer for the students of Biomedical Sciences and Medicine, and coach of the clinical fellows in training.
Marc Ferrante pursued his training in internal medicine and gastroenterology at the KU Leuven. He obtained his medical degree in 2002 and his Belgian board certification in gastroenterology in 2010. During his training, he performed internships in Tygerberg (Stellenbosch, South Africa), Chris Hani Baragwanath (Johannesburg, South Africa) and Onze-Lieve-Vrouwziekenhuis (Aalst, Belgium).
In 2007, he successfully defended his PhD, which was entitled “Assessing and predicting disease progression in IBD: a clinical and molecular approach”. In 2010, Marc Ferrante initiated his post-doctoral work at the Hubrecht Institute in Utrecht, the Netherlands, under the supervision of Hans Clevers. With the knowledge gained in this renowned centre, Marc Ferrante introduced the ex vivo intestinal organoid technique at KU Leuven. He performed research on the influence of microbiota on intestinal stem cell behaviour and differentiation in patients with IBD. Besides, he also started a research line on patient reported outcomes, quality indicators and eligibility criteria for clinical trials.
Marc Ferrante published more than 300 papers in high ranked gastroenterology journals (H index: 65). For his work, he has received numerous research awards including the van Genechten-Paternoster en Prof G Vantrappen Award, the Willy and Marcy De Vooght Foundation Award, as well as an ECCO and CREA Research Grant. He was awarded as Rising Star in Gastroenterology at the European Congress of Gastroenterology in 2014. He is currently promotor of two PhD programs.
Marc Ferrante holds a basic-clinical research position at the Flemish Foundation for Scientific Research (FWO Vlaanderen). He is chair of the Scientific Committee of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) and secretary of the Belgian IBD Research and Development (BIRD) group. He is member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis, reviewer for many gastroenterology journals, and central reader for several multi-centre clinical trials.
