About

Dr. Olivier Govaere is a research associate based at the Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University. He obtained his Master in Biomedical Sciences at the KU Leuven, Belgium. In 2008 he joined the lab of Prof. Dr. Tania Roskams to do a PhD focusing on the role of hepatic progenitor cells in liver regeneration and carcinogenesis.  He continued his work at the lab of Prof. Dr. Tania Roskams during a 3-year postdoctoral fellowship investigating phenotype switching in human hepatocellular carcinomas and characterisation of the human hepatic progenitor cell niche in chronic liver disease.

Dr. Govaere joined the Newcastle liver group to work on the EPOS project (Elucidating Pathways of Steatohepatitis) with Prof. Quentin Anstee, Prof. Ann Daley and Prof. Fiona Oakley.

EPoS: Elucidating Pathways of Steatohepatitis is funded by the EU Horizon 2020 scheme. This consortium focuses on understanding the pathophysiology of NAFLD and examining the determinants of individual risk for disease progression using a "multi-omics" translational-science approach. 

Education

• BSc, KULeuven, Belgium (2006)
• MSc, KULeuven, Belgium (2008)
• PhD in Molecular and Stem Cell Medicine, KU Leuven, Belgium (2012)
• Certificate in ‘Knowledge & technology transfer and the exploitation of research’, KU Leuven Research & Development (2014) 

Memberships of Learned Societies

• European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL)

Esteem Indicators

Peer Review activities

• International journals including “Gut”, “Journal of Hepatology”, “British Journal of Cancer”, “Oncotarget”, “Theranostics”.
• Grant awarding bodies including Research Grants Council of Hong Kong.

Selected Invited Lectures and oral presentation at international meetings

• Practicalities of ‘Omics. Scientific Facilities Conference 2018, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
  “A high-throughput RNA sequencing approach to elucidate pathways of steatohepatitis”
• Annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2017
  “High-throughput RNA sequencing unravels pathways associated with the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease “
• 5th European Young Hepatologists Workshop, Marseille, France 2015
  “Hepatic progenitor cells in chronic liver disease”
• Belgian Week of Gastroenterology, Brussels, Belgium, 2015
  Young BASL. Lab introduction: Translational Cell and Tissue Research, Department of Imaging & Pathology.
• Annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), Vienna, Austria, 2015
  “High-throughput sequencing of the human hepatic progenitor cell niche reveals different signalling pathways depending on the underlying chronic liver disease.”
• EASL HCC Summit Geneva, Switzerland, 2014
  “Side Population analysis identifies a role for laminin in modulating the human hepatic cancer stem cell niche.”
• Annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), Amsterdam, 2013
  “EASL - Young Investigator’s Seminar: IS CELL THERAPY THE FUTURE FOR LIVER DISEASE TREATMENT? 
• ICR-Lecture Series. Institute of Cancer Research, Medical University Vienna, Austria. 2013.
  “Hepatic progenitor cells and their role in cancer.”
• Annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), Barcelona, Spain, 2012
  “Keratin19: A Key Role Player in the Invasion of Human Hepatocellular Carcinomas with Progenitor Cell Features.” 

Awards

• Award for Best Clinical Presentation, Belgian Week of Gastroenterology, 2011
• Award for Best Abstract, 6th Joint Meeting of the British Division of the International Academy of Pathology and the Pathological Society of Great Britain & Ireland, 2011
• F1000Prime. Faculty of 1000 Recommendation for ‘Keratin 19: a key role player in the invasion of human hepatocellular carcinomas. Gut, 2013 (DOI: 10.3410/f.718078724.793486745)’
• Young Investigator Top 10% award, EASL, London, 2014. Abstract “Side Population analysis identifies a role for laminin in modulating the human hepatic cancer stem cell niche.”
• MSD award Best Clinical Publication: ‘Keratin19: A Key Role Player in the Invasion of Human Hepatocellular Carcinomas’. BASL Winter Meeting, La Hulpe, Belgium 2014.
• EASL Young Investigator Bursary, Annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.
• Inter-university initiative within the ‘Framework for Young Researchers’ (OJO) from the Flemish government, to finance the ‘young BASL School of Hepatology 2015’.
• Award for best oral presentation, 5th European Young Hepatologists Workshop, Marseille, France 2015.
• NUSCU project award 2017. 

• De Roo AK, Wouters J, Govaere O, Foets B, van den Oord JJ. Identification of Circulating Fibrocytes and Dendritic Derivatives in Corneal Endothelium of Patients With Fuchs' Dystrophy. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 2017, 58(1), 670-681.
• Ceulemans A, Verhulst S, Van Haele M, Govaere O, Ventura J-J, Van Grunsven LA, Roskams T. RNA-sequencing-based comparative analysis of human hepatic progenitor cells and their niche from alcoholic steatohepatitis livers. Cell Death and Disease 2017, 8(11), e3164.
• Delladetsima I, Sakellariou S, Govaere O, Poulaki E, Felekouras E, Tiniakos D. Hepatic Progenitor Cells in Metastatic Liver Carcinomas. Histopathology 2018, 72(6), 1060-1065.
• Krenkel O, Puengel T, Govaere O, Abdallah AT, Mossanen JC, Kohlhepp M, Liepelt A, Lefebvre E, Luedde T, Hellerbrand C, Weiskirchen R, Longerich T, Costa IG, Anstee QM, Trautwein C, Tacke F. Therapeutic inhibition of inflammatory monocyte recruitment reduces steatohepatitis and liver fibrosis. Hepatology 2018, 67(4), 1270-1283.
• Wouters J, Vizoso M, Martinez-Cardus A, Carmona FJ, Govaere O, Laguna T, Joseph J, Dynoodt P, Aura C, Foth M, Cloots R, van den Hurk K, Balint B, Murphy IG, McDermott EW, Sheahan K, Jirstrom K, Nodin B, Mallya-Udupi G, van den Oord JJ, Gallagher WM, Esteller M. Comprehensive DNA methylation study identifies novel progression-related and prognostic markers for cutaneous melanoma. BMC Medicine 2017, 15, 101.
• De Smedt L, Palmans S, Andel D, Govaere O, Boeckx B, Smeets D, Galle E, Wouters J, Barras D, Suffiotti M, Dekervel J, Tousseyn T, De Hertogh G, Prenen H, Tejpar S, Lambrechts D, Sagaert X. Expression profiling of budding cells in colorectal cancer reveals an EMT-like phenotype and molecular subtype switching. British Journal of Cancer 2017, 116, 58-65.
• Brouwers B, Fumagalli D, Brohee S, Hatse S, Govaere O, Floris G, Van den Eynde K, Bareche Y, Schoffski P, Smeets A, Neven P, Lambrechts D, Sotiriou C, Wildiers H. The footprint of the ageing stroma in older patients with breast cancer. Breast Cancer Research 2017, 19, 1-14.
• Govaere O, Petz M, Wouters J, Vandewynckel Y-P, Scott EJ, Topal B, Nevens F, Verslype C, Anstee QM, Van Vlierberghe H, Mikulits W, Roskams T. The PDGFRα-laminin B1-keratin 19 cascade drives tumor progression at the invasive front of human hepatocellular carcinoma. Oncogene 2017, 36, 6605-6616.
• Mossanen JC, Krenkel O, Ergen C, Govaere O, Liepelt A, Puengel T, Heymann F, Kalthoff S, Lefebvre E, Eulberg D, Luedde T, Marx G, Strassburg CP, Roskams T, Trautwein C, Tacke F. Chemokine (C-C motif) receptor 2–positive monocytes aggravate the early phase of acetaminophen-induced acute liver injury. Hepatology 2016, 64(5), 1667-1682.
• Verbeke L, Mannaerts I, Schierwagen R, Govaere O, Klein S, Vander Elst I, Windmolders P, Farre R, Wenes M, Mazzone M, Nevens F, Van Grunsven LA, Trebicka J, Laleman W. FXR agonist obeticholic acid reduces hepatic inflammation and fibrosis in a rat model of toxic cirrhosis. Scientific Reports 2016, 6, 33453.
• Rodrigues RM, Govaere O, Roskams T, Vanhaecke T, Rogiers V, De Kock J. Gene expression data from acetaminophen-induced toxicity in human hepatic in vitro systems and clinical liver samples. Data in Brief 2016, 7, 1052-1057.
• Bartneck M, Fech V, Ehling J, Govaere O, Warzecha KT, Hittatiya K, Vucur M, Gautheron J, Luedde T, Trautwein C, Lammers T, Roskams T, Jahnen-Dechent W, Tacke F. Histidine-rich glycoprotein promotes macrophage activation and inflammation in chronic liver disease. Hepatology 2016, 63(4), 1310-1324.
• Govaere O, Wouters J, Petz M, Vandewynckel Y-P, Van Den Eynde K, Van Den Broeck A, Verhulst S, Dolle L, Gremeaux L, Ceulemans A, Nevens F, Van Grunsven LA, Topal B, Vankelecom H, Giannelli G, Van Vlierberghe H, Mikulits W, Komuta M, Roskams T. Laminin-332 sustains chemoresistance and quiescence as part of the human hepatic cancer stem cell niche. Journal of Hepatology 2016, 64(3), 609-617.
• Janky R, Binda MM, Allemeersch J, Van den broeck A, Govaere O, Swinnen JV, Roskams T, Aerts S, Topal B. Prognostic relevance of molecular subtypes and master regulators in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. BMC Cancer 2016, 16, 1-15.
• Simerzin A, Zorde-Khvalevsky E, Rivkin M, Adar R, Zucman-Rossi J, Couchy G, Roskams T, Govaere O, Oren M, Giladi H, Galun E. The liver-specific microRNA-122*, the complementary strand of microRNA-122, acts as a tumor suppressor by modulating the p53/mouse double minute 2 homolog circuitry. Hepatology 2016, 64(5), 1623-1636.
• Rodrigues RM, Heymans A, De Boe V, Sachinidis A, Chaudhari U, Govaere O, Roskams T, Vanhaecke T, Rogiers V, De Kock J. Toxicogenomics-based prediction of acetaminophen-induced liver injury using human hepatic cell systems. Toxicology Letters 2016, 240(1), 50-59.
• De Smedt L, Palmans S, Govaere O, Moisse M, Boeckx B, De Hertogh G, Prenen H, Van Cutsem E, Tejpar S, Tousseyn T, Sagaert X. Expression of FOXP1 and Colorectal Cancer Prognosis. Laboratory Medicine 2015, 46(4), 299-311.
• De Smedt L, Lemahieu J, Palmans S, Govaere O, Tousseyn T, Van Cutsem E, Prenen H, Tejpar S, Spaepen M, Matthijs G, Decaestecker C, Moles Lopez X, Demetter P, Salmon I, Sagaert X. Microsatellite instable vs stable colon carcinomas: analysis of tumour heterogeneity, inflammation and angiogenesis. British Journal of Cancer 2015, 113(3), 500-509.
• Govaere O, Roskams T. Pathogenesis and Prognosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma at the Cellular and Molecular Levels. Clinics in Liver Disease 2015, 19(2), 261-276.
• Mertens F, Gremeaux L, Chen J, Fu Q, Willems C, Roose H, Govaere O, Roskams T, Cristina C, Becu-Villalobos D, Jorissen M, Vander Poorten V, Bex M, Van Loon J, Vankelecom H. Pituitary tumors contain a side population with tumor stem cell-associated characteristics. Endocrine-Related Cancer 2015, 22(4), 481-504.
• Vandewyncke Y-P, Laukens D, Devisscher L, Paridaens A, Bogaerts E, Verhelst X, Van den Bussche A, Raevens S, Van Govaere C, Van Troys M, Ampe C, Descamps B, Vanhove C, Govaere O, Geerts A, Van Vlierberghe H. Tauroursodeoxycholic acid dampens oncogenic apoptosis induced by endoplasmic reticulum stress during hepatocarcinogen exposure. Oncotarget 2015, 6(29), 28011-28025.
• Wouters J, Stas M, Govaere O, Barrette K, Dudek A, Vankelecom H, Haydu LE, Thompson JF, Scolyer RA, Van Den Oord JJ. A novel hypoxia-associated subset of FN1 high MITF low melanoma cells: Identification, characterization, and prognostic value. Modern Pathology 2014, 27(8), 1088-1100.
• Hammerich L, Bangen JM, Govaere O, Zimmermann HW, Gassler N, Huss S, Liedtke C, Prinz I, Lira SA, Luedde T, Roskams T, Trautwein C, Heymann F, Tacke F. Chemokine receptor CCR6-dependent accumulation of γδ T cells in injured liver restricts hepatic inflammation and fibrosis. Hepatology 2014, 59(2), 630-642.
• Rodrigues RM, De Kock J, Branson S, Vinken M, Meganathan K, Chaudhari U, Sachinidis A, Govaere O, Roskams T, De Boe V, Vanhaecke T, Rogiers V. Human skin-derived stem cells as a novel cell source for in vitro hepatotoxicity screening of pharmaceuticals. Stem Cells and Development 2014, 23(1), 44-55.
• Govaere O, Komuta M, Berkers J, Spee B, Janssen C, De Luca F, Katoonizadeh A, Wouters J, Van Kempen LC, Durnez A, Verslype C, De Kock J, Rogiers V, Van Grunsven LA, Topal B, Pirenne J, Vankelecom H, Nevens F, Van Den Oord J, Pinzani M, Roskams T. Keratin 19: a key role player in the invasion of human hepatocellular carcinomas. Gut 2014, 63(4), 674-685.