Kris is an associate professor in plant health at the department of Plants and Crops, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University. He leads a team of young researchers at the Laboratory of Applied Mycology and Phenomics (LAMP). Growing healthy crops resilient upon pathogen attack is a major challenge for agriculture in a changing climate. The mission of LAMP is to play a pivotal role in this challenge by exploring new innovations and by enabling that such innovations find their way to society.

Trang successfully completed his doctoral program at Ghent University in 2021, focusing on investigating the modes of action of Streptomyces strains against fungal phytopathogens. Subsequently, he served as a postdoctoral researcher at INRAE in France, where his research aimed to unravel the antifungal and antimycotoxin mechanisms of stilbenoids against Fusarium Head Blight, utilizing multi-omics approaches. Currently, Trang Tran holds the position of an FWO postdoctoral researcher at UGent and KULeuven. In this role, he is dedicated to exploring fructan metabolizing microbes and developing sweet immunity-mediated synthetic microbial communities (SWEETiCOM). The combination of fructans as prebiotics and SWEETiCOM has the potential to promote plant growth and enhance plant tolerance to both biotic and abiotic stresses.

Sabina manages the CropFit Services Core Facility at UGent, where LAMP is a valued member. CropFit Services provides innovative bioassays to elucidate biostimulants’ and biopesticides’ efficiency and mode of action, supporting every aspect of product development. In her role, Sabina oversees public relations, manages day-to-day operations, and leverages her expertise in integrated pest management to establish a connection between academia and industry. Her efforts aim to foster collaboration, stimulate service initiatives, and generate revenue for the university.

Mathieu holds a PhD in Plant pathology from UCLouvain (Belgium). He was a postdoctoral fellow from 2021 to 2024 at Agroscope (Switzerland) in the laboratory of Virology, Bacteriology and Phytoplasmology. His work involved the biological, molecular and genomic characterization of viral, fungal and bacterial phytopathogens. Mathieu currently works at LAMP and the BW21 phytopathology laboratory on the rice sheath rot, with a focus on fungi from the genera Fusarium and Sarocladium (project G0A6S24N). For this project, a combination of comparative genomics, reverse genetics, in planta assays and mycotoxin quantification analyses will be performed, with the aim to better understand this complex pathosystem.

Fien obtained her master’s degree in Bioscience Engineering, Cell and Gene Biotechnology at Ghent University in 2020. In 2021 she started as a teaching and research assistant at the department of Biotechnology (Ghent University). She is currently working on her PhD project focused on the phytoremediation of heavy metal polluted soils using hemp plants and the associated rhizospere microbial community. The impact of this phytoremediation process on the phenotype of the plants is studied by spectral analysis. Her supervisors are Leen De Gelder and Kris Audenaert.

Jing obtained her master’s degree in Food Science; functional food and bioactive components at Chinese Academy of Agriculture Science in 2022. She started her PhD in December 2022, and is investigating a new selection pipeline for the discovery of high biocontrol bacteria against B. cinerea in tomato. The project is funded by the China Scholarship Council (CSC) and her supervisors are Kris Audenaert, Sarah De Saeger, and Caroline De Tender.

Chloë obtained her master’s degree in bioscience engineering; cell- and gene biotechnology at Ghent University in 2023. She is currently working as a PhD researcher on the ODORATION project involving the development of a botanical biofiltration system for household environments, based on optimized malodorant-metabolizing rhizosphere and phyllosphere microbiomes.

Louka is a Ph.D. student at Ghent University, affiliated with the research group Phycology and the Laboratory of Applied Mycology and Phenomics (LAMP). As a part of the European AlgaeProBANOS project, her doctoral research focuses on the cultivation of the red seaweed Furcellaria lumbricalis in the Baltic Sea. The primary objective is to explore its potential as a feedstock for plant biostimulant production. This work involves various aspects, including seaweed life cycle control, sustainable seaweed aquaculture, population genomics, and the application of bioassays to investigate Furcellaria’s biostimulatory potential through multispectral imaging.

Dylan obtained his master’s degree in Biochemistry and Biotechnology at KU Leuven in 2024. Currently, he has started to write a project titled: “Identification and quantification of nematodes in soybean plants.” This project will be handed in for a VLAIO Baekeland fellowship under the supervision of Kris Audenaert, Tina Kyndt, and BASF members Xavier Scheldeman and Alexander Galle.

Nerea obtained her master’s degree in Molecular Biology with a specialization in Microbiology at Lund University in 2024. She is currently working as a PhD researcher on a project focused on the identification of yet undiscovered bioactive fungal metabolites. This work involves the characterization of plant–pathogen interactions and the integration of various molecular biology approaches, including genomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics. The project is carried out in collaboration with the VIB and the MEMO group (Metabolic Engineering of Microorganisms) at Ghent University.

Jarno successfully obtained his Bachelor's degree in Pharmaceutical and Biological Laboratory Technology from Odisee in 2024, followed by an Advanced Bachelor's in Bioinformatics in 2025. He is currently working as a lab technician, primarily responsible for the lab's external services, and provides support with internal lab operations when needed.