Erik Storkebaum - Biography#

Erik Storkebaum studied pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Leuven, Belgium (1995-2000, magna cum laude). For his PhD thesis (2000-2005, promoter Peter Carmeliet, VIB & University of Leuven), he used mouse genetic approaches to study the role and therapeutic potential of VEGF for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). During his postdoc in Patrick Callaerts' lab (VIB Leuven) he used Drosophila as a genetic model for motor neurodegenerative diseases. His first independent lab was a ‘Max Planck Research Group’ at the MPI for Molecular Biomedicine (Münster, Germany, 2010-2018). In 2017, he moved to the Donders Institute and Radboud University in Nijmegen (Netherlands). His lab combines Drosophila and mouse genetics to unravel molecular mechanisms underlying motor neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases. Thus far, his research focussed on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) caused by FUS mutations (FUS-ALS) and Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) peripheral neuropathy caused by mutations in cytoplasmic aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs). More recently, he performed an unbiased, forward genetic screen in Drosophila to comprehensively study the molecular pathogenesis of axonal degeneration and possible links to human neurological diseases.

His work has thus far resulted in 42 high-impact scientific publications in prestigious journals, including Nature, Science, Nature Neuroscience, Nature Genetics, New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Communications, Journal of Cell Biology, etc. According to Google Scholar, his papers have been cited 7880 times in total, corresponding to an average of ~188 citations/publication. His current H-factor is 28. He thus far acquired a total of 7.8 mio€ research funding since 2010, including prestigious grants such as an ERC consolidator grant. He co-organized 4 scientific meetings, and since 2022 he serves as scientific director of the Donders Center for Neuroscience, an institute that includes 20 PI groups and a total of about 120 employees. Finally, he is listed as investigator on a patent application on ‘tRNA overexpression as a therapeutic approach for CMT neuropathy associated with mutations in tRNA synthetases’, that was submitted in 2020. Based on this patent, a spin-off company (XtRNA Bio) was recently established that aims to develop AAV9-tRNAGly therapy for clinical application in CMT patients.