In Memoriam Pieter Van Vlierberghe
We are deeply saddened to announce that Pieter Van Vlierberghe (42) has passed away.
Pieter was highly active within EHA: as Scientific Program Committee Advisory Board member he provided input for our first Virtual Congress in 2020; he repeatedly reviewed Congress abstracts, co-organized the YoungEHA Research Meeting, participated in the EHA-ASH Translational Research Training in Hematology (TRTH) program, was a committed Fellowships and Grants Committee member and an editorial board member of HemaSphere.
Pieter Van Vlierberghe was trained as a bioscience engineer in Belgium. Interested in cancer genetics, he joined the research group of Jules Meijerink and Rob Pieters in the Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, where he obtained his PhD in 2008, with a study of the genetics of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). During this period he already discovered the first cases with PHF6 inactivation, a topic that he continued to study during his postdoc with Frank Speleman (Belgium) and Adolfo Ferrando (New York). This work led to the identification of PHF6 as one of the most frequently mutated genes in T-ALL.
In 2015, Pieter started his own research group at the Ghent University (Belgium), funded by an ERC starting grant. He continued basic research on ALL but shifted his focus more to the translational aspects. His work led to the identification of new targets for therapy in ALL and repurposing of existing drugs for the treatment of ALL, with validation in patient-derived xenograft models.
Above all, Pieter was a wonderful and engaged collaborator, enthusiastically involved in so many projects, from basic to clinical leukemia research, with partners all around the world. He was passionate about his own work, but also obtained a lot of energy and joy from contributing to projects of colleagues.
Despite receiving a cancer diagnosis a few years ago, Pieter maintained his positive outlook on life, continued his research and collaborations, and carried on making plans for the future. We will miss his scientific input, his enthusiastic contributions to a diverse set of projects, and most of all his smile and warm friendship.
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Add messagePaulina Richter-Pechanska
We only met a few times, but exchanged plenty of emails. Pieter was such a warm and friendly person – an excellent scientist and an example to all of us. I wish there were more people like him. Rest in peace, Pieter.
Ward Lemaire
I continue to miss you Pieter. You were one of the greats! An inspiration, a warm caring individual, a brilliant scientist, a collaborator,... an awesome friend.
Ward
Maria L Toribio
A great loss for the field. We will miss you.
Hudan Liu
It is a really sad news to know Pieter passing away. Huge loss to me and many collaborators I believe. I first met Pieter in the FASEB meeting “Hematological malignancy” at Vermont US when both of us just moved back to our own country for career development. His collaborative personality impressed me a lot. Continuous conversations inspired us to apply the FWO-NSFC bilateral grants supported by Belgium and China. It turned out to be a joyful unforgettable experience and we ultimately got funded. Whereas a truly pain for us to know his illness, Pieter faced his disease as a true hero and remained enthusiastic and committed to science throughout his life. Pieter is such a great optimistic human being who has been inspiring to those communicating with him. He will be dearly missed and all the memory will be a blessing to us. Deep condolences to his family and Ghent colleagues.
Brian Balgobind
We will miss you Pieter. Shared 3 wonderfull years with you, both as PhD students, at the Pediatric Oncology Lab at Rotterdam. Your inspiration and commitment i will never forget.
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