Prof. Dr. Emeritus

In Vitro Toxicology and Dermato-Cosmetology (IVTD)

Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)

EDUCATION:

Pharmacist (University of Ghent, 1974)

– Doctor in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1980)

– Master in Applied Toxicology (University of Guilford, UK, 2000)

– European Registered Toxicologist (since 2010).

BIOGRAPHY:

After many years of leading the department of In Vitro Toxicology and Dermato-Cosmetology at the VUB in a successful way, Emeritus professor in Toxicology Vera Rogiers is actually still teaching dermato-cosmetics at the VUB and the University of Ghent. She also gives a limited number of lessons to the University of Namur and the ULB. She yearly organizes international courses on Cosmetics and Risk Assessment. She is the Director of the Innovation Centre-3Rs (IC-3Rs) at the VUB and of the scientific Chair Mireille Aerens, both with focus on replacing experimental animals by novel technologies. At the EU level, she is co-chair of the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS). Her main research activity was many years situated in the development of in vitro models as an alternative to the use of experimental animals. Actual focus is on the differentiation of human skin-derived stem cells to functional hepatic cells and their application for drug discovery and the detection of drug-induced liver injury.  She has been promoter of 33 doctoral theses, is author or co-author of >380 publications in international peer reviewed scientific journals and is editor of several scientific books. She is an often-invited speaker (>350) and participated in the organization of more than 60 international congresses. She has coordinated 2 EU research projects and was partner in several FP6, FP7 EU and Horizon 2020 research projects concerned with in vitro methodology development. Of the obtained scientific results, several patents have been filed. Throughout her carrier she received several international scientific awards for her pioneering role in in vitro Experimental Toxicology, among these laureate of the Francqui Chair at the University of Antwerp.