Funds and projects

22q11 DS / Vecarfa Fund

1 in 4,000 newborns suffer from 22q11 DS, a congenital genetic disorder caused by the absence of a piece on the long arm of chromosome 22. Symptoms vary widely from child to child, but the main features are problems with the palate which in turn causes feeding difficulties and nasal speech, congenital heart defects, frequent infections, learning difficulties and/or intellectual disability and an increased risk of psychiatric disorders such as anxiety disorders, autism spectrum disorders and psychosis.

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ADPKD Fund

Much research is still needed at cellular level into the underlying mechanisms of the disease Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD). In addition, there is a need for guidelines for a structured care of families with ADPKD, in which all disciplines are involved together.

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Age Friendly Health Care

Our research focuses on various aspects of health in old age, ranging from research on optimizing medication management in the elderly, osteoporosis and muscle loss, cognitive impairment and dementia, as well as new models of health care organization for the elderly that have a clear impact on health.

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Albert Fund to improve quality of life for cancer patients

The Albert Fund stimulates research into optimised and personalised cancer treatments. At the same time, it focuses on the quality of life of patients, at a physical, emotional and social level.

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ALS Fund Alain Verspecht

Alain is now completely paralyzed and is on a ventilator 24 hours a day, talking is becoming increasingly difficult, but eating is still possible. It helps that he still has goals in mind. For example, he is committed to the fund that we set up in 2013 and which has already raised more than 800,000 euros. Alain is under no illusion that a drug will be found for him in time, but the idea that it will help others gives him great satisfaction.

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Alzheimer's research by Prof. Bart De Strooper

Bart De Strooper does research on the production of the amyloid-beta protein. This is the main component of the protein clots, so-called 'plaques', that typically occur in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. The results of this research are in turn used, in cooperation with the pharmaceutical industry, to think up new paths for the development of medication.

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ARCK: Alzheimer Research Centre KU Leuven

Support research into better treatments for Alzheimer's disease through the Alzheimer Research Centre KU Leuven (ARCK).

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Arjan Fund for research into brainstem tumours

Arjan Betting was 21 when he died of a rare brainstem tumour. It was his great wish that more research would be done on such infrequent cancer variants. The Arjan Fund aims to significantly increase the knowledge about brainstem tumours, among other things by (co-)organising symposia, inviting international specialists to KU Leuven, awarding grants and paying researchers and administrative staff.

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Bart Verbeeck Fund for Sarcoma Research

Because it is such a rare form of cancer, the pharmaceutical industry and the government hardly invest in it. That is why the professors in Leuven find it such a relief that we support them through this fund.

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Bone4kids Fund

In pseudo-arthrosis, bones do not grow back together after a fracture. In Europe, 500 children are diagnosed with the illness each year. For some of them, amputation is the only way out. Scientists are working hard on less invasive and more efficient treatments than the ones that are available today. Scientists are working hard on less invasive and more efficient treatments than the ones that are available today. But the research requires a lot of time and money, an issue which the Bone4Kids Fund wants to address.

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Breast Cancer Research Fund Nadine de Beauffort

Nadine de Beauffort died in November 2011 from the effects of breast cancer. Shortly after, her husband decided to support the Breast Centre UZ Leuven, where Nadine had always been well followed up.

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BTV-fund for colon cancer research

Efficient screening for colorectal cancer is vital. Advanced research and new technologies can also optimise treatments. The BTV Fund wants to contribute to this as much as possible.

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Burn centre

The Burn Center at UZ Leuven is a leading reference centre for the specialised care of adults and children with severe burns, as well as other complex wounds such as infectious, traumatic or autoimmune-related injuries. With your support, we want to give our burn patients a future with prospects.

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Carpe Diem Fund for Diabetes Research

Timely detection, good follow-up and strict treatment of type 2 diabetes can bring relief, but more in-depth research is still needed for this. Scientists want to know more about causes and prevention in particular.

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Center for Human Genetics: Genetics and Society

Thanks to your financial support, we can coordinate all scientific efforts concerning genetics in society and help people, organisations and official bodies to formulate answers to the many questions that arise.

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Children’s Fund for Kidney Disease and Transplantation – Prof. Van Damme-Lombaerts

Promoting research into survival and quality of life in young patients is one of the fund’s main goals, an initiative of Emeritus Professor Rita Van Damme-Lombaerts.

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CHROMETA fund

The Fund for Chronic Diseases, Metabolism and Ageing (CHROMETA) supports and promotes the scientific research of the Department of Chronic Diseases and Metabolism, and seeks financial resources to appoint researchers and support staff, purchase research resources and equipment, develop international collaborations and knowledge sharing.

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Clinical Pharmacology Fund

The fund aims to promote high-quality clinical pharmacological research by supporting original drug research. An additional objective is to offer clinical pharmacological training at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

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COVID-19 Fund

In constant dialogue with international experts, top researchers at KU Leuven and UZ Leuven have joined forces to understand the effect of COVID-19 on humans, to develop and implement healing treatments and to develop an effective vaccine.

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DE MONDGENOTEN - Help ensure a healthy mouth for everyone, every day

People who struggle socio-economically, suffer from physical or mental problems or are dependent on care have significantly poorer oral health. For example, barely 15% of Flemish nursing home residents appear to have no inflammation in the mouth. Preventing this is our mission!

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Department of haematology

We are constantly searching for new medications and treatments. There is a need for further fundamental scientific and translational research in order to continuously improve care for haematological patients.

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Dieter De Cauderlier Fund for brain tumours

Dieter De Cauderlier passed away at age 32 from the effects of a brain tumour. To honour Dieter and provide better opportunities for fellow sufferers, his family and friends established a research fund for the Leuven Cancer Institute (LCI): the Dieter De Cauderlier Fund for brain tumours.

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Digestive Oncology Fund

A combination of innovative research, multidisciplinary expertise and high-quality care is crucial. It is exactly this that the Digestive Oncology Fund aims to achieve.

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Dirk en Sophie Kemps Fund

This Fund promotes and supports genetic research into the cause of congenital muscle disorders and in particular Duchenne muscle disease and limb girdle dystrophy in children and adults.

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Dominique Everaert Fund for Bowel Cancer Research

Each year, more than 2,500 Belgians are told they are suffering from rectal cancer. If we want to change that and ensure that the five-year survival rate of these patients improves from the current average of 64 percent, more research is needed. The Dominique Everaert Fund aims to accelerate research into the causes, diagnosis and treatment of rectal cancer.

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DoNATION Fund

We are looking for better ways to preserve kidneys and livers intended for transplantation and to improve the quality of these organs for transplantation. In addition, we are investigating whether medicines and stem cells can protect the kidney, liver and intestine from possible damage that occurs during the transplantation process.

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Dr. Arlette Wertelaers fund for fall prevention in the elderly

This fund promotes research into fall prevention in the elderly, an increasingly important topic to which Dr Wertelaers had devoted herself for many years.

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Dupuytren Fund

The Dupuytren Fund wants to facilitate groundbreaking research into Dupuytren's disease, a condition in which the fingers become crooked due to the formation of scar tissue in the hands. The Fund wants to support and promote scientific research, with a focus on optimising treatments and ultimately disease control.

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Eager Brains Fund to promote brain trauma research

The Eager Brains Fund supports research into better treatment methods for severe brain trauma.

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ECHO project

Fund that supports research into diseases of the pituitary gland and hormones (endocrinology), as to increase knowledge and improve the diagnosis, quality of life and the accompanying health issues.

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EDU-CONTACT Fund

To support education in oral anti-cancer therapy, such as the well received e-learning package and supporting material for patients.

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Eline4Kids Fund

This fund aims to give a sense of hope, well-being and happiness to the young patients in the Paediatric Oncology and Paediatric Psychiatry departments and to make their hospitalisation and treatment more bearable.

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Emile Rouffaer Fund for lung cancer research

In half of the people diagnosed with lung cancer, the disease already appears to be in an advanced or metastatic stage. More research is urgently needed to significantly improve their prognosis, to offer them more targeted therapy and to better understand the origin of lung cancer.

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Emilie van Heel Fund for lung transplantation

The Fund supports the treatment of lung transplant patients in UZ Leuven and stimulates research into (among other things) better treatment options and the prevention of chronic rejection after lung transplantation.

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Endometriosis Research

Endometriosis is probably caused by blood entering the abdominal cavity through the fallopian tubes during menstruation. Further research is needed to better understand endometriosis and improve treatments.

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Estée Lauder Fund: Moving Cancer Care Forward

The Fund focuses on the prevention, treatment and cure of breast cancer.

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Exceptional Kids' Fund

The Fund supports fundamental scientists who hope to gain more insights into rare genetic disorders so parents can be better guided and know what to expect. Every donation makes a difference.

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Fertility Research

The aim of this project is to support scientific research in reproductive medicine (reduced fertility, recurrent miscarriage, psychological and ethical aspects of fertility disorders, etc.).

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Functional Urology Fund

This fund promotes research in the field of urology in general and more specifically in the field of functional urology (such as incontinence, benign prostate disease, bladder dysfunction, neurology, reconstructive urology, cell-based therapy, pelvic floor dysfunction, etc.).

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Fund Child and Adolescent Mental Health

The fund aims to promote and support project work with young people in the departments of child and adolescent psychiatry at the UPC KU Leuven.

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Fund Constant Van de Wiel - Joanna Mathues rheumatology

New technologies that allow the evolution and impact of rheumatic diseases to be closely monitored offer opportunities to involve patients themselves more closely as partners in the management of their disease. The fund was set up to support research into rheumatic diseases on all these fronts.

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Fund for cancer research during pregnancy

The purpose of the Fund for cancer research during pregnancy is to investigate the consequences of cancer treatment in the mother for the health and development of the child. In addition, the fund contributes to an international advisory group that advises doctors worldwide on state-of-the-art treatment of cancer during pregnancy.

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Fund for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

In addition to research related to genetic predisposition, disease mechanisms and environmental factors, the focus is also on optimising therapy and developing new therapies.

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Fund for innovative cancer research

In Belgium alone, more than 27,000 people die each year from cancer. If we want to reduce that figure, we need to understand in detail how individual tumours arise and evolve. This is exactly what the oncology researchers at KU Leuven are doing.

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Fund for ovarian germ cell tumours

The Fund for ovarian germ cell tumours aims to increase knowledge about the prevention, pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of rare ovarian cancers such as germ cell tumours.

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Fund for Rare Diseases

The Fund for Rare Diseases focuses on four projects: experience experts, quality of life, dealing with a chronic illness and every diagnosis counts.

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Fund for research in structural and congenital heart disease

The fund aims to advance research in structural and congenital heart disease. In particular, we want to support research where the therapeutic potential of individualized treatment based on 3D technology, is validated.

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Fund for research into Multiple Myeloma - for MM

There is still no effective treatment for many plasma cell diseases. Scientific research is providing us with new insights into these rare diseases and their treatments. In order to develop better treatments, it is necessary to have a good understanding of the mechanisms involved in their development. This requires a great deal of scientific research.

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Fund for research into osteoarthritis treatment

The fund aims to develop and implement a plan of action to provide patients with (knee) osteoarthritis with optimal care at every stage and, by extension, to promote and support research into treatment options for osteoarthritis.

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Fund for research into Peyronie's disease

Support research into molecular and genetic abnormalities in scar tissue of patients with Peyronie's disease. With this research, we want to find new targets for treating this disease at an early stage, where until now these patients could only be helped with complicated surgery.

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Fund Herman Van den Berghe

The Fund invites a renowned foreign scientist every year, primarily to give a public lecture, but also to help beginning researchers find their way in the field.

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Fund Inès Costa

After the death of their 24-year-old daughter Inès, her parents wanted to support scientific research into neurofibromatosis type 1, the hereditary disease from which Inès suffered and which occurs in about 1 in 2,500 newborns.

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Fund Jos and Mieke Vandevordt-Gaul for the pathogenesis of rare lymphomas

Thanks in part to the fund's support, young, talented PhD students can get down to work. Together with the specialists at UZ Leuven, they come closer, via genetic-molecular research, to the genesis mechanisms of rare lymphomas and thus to better treatments.

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Fund Joël Hurlet

The systemic disease dermatomyositis has a major impact on the quality of life. The muscle weakness caused by the disease leaves patients unable to do day-to-day things, their skin is affected and they have to take heavy medication. Scientists do not yet sufficiently understand the mechanisms of development and therapy is still too often inadequate. This fund wants to do something about that.

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Fund Marc Boogaerts

The fund has two objectives: to provide social, financial and psychological support to UZ Leuven patients with blood disorders, and to promote scientific and clinical stem cell research at KU Leuven and UZ Leuven.

Steun dit fonds

Fund ME TO YOU

With the creation of this fund, we are consolidating the scientific branch of the ME TO YOU Foundation in support of blood cancer research and hope to add small pieces to the puzzle to eventually unravel this complex disease.

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Fund Multidisciplinary Breast Centre Leuven

The fund aims to promote and support research and the realisation of special projects in the diagnosis, treatment, support and follow-up of patients with breast cancer.

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Fund Optimisation of radiotherapeutic treatment of head and neck tumours

This fund aims to finance groundbreaking research into better treatments for head and neck tumours. Researchers are joining forces to find new ways to combat this disease, with the ultimate goal of finding a cure and improving patients' quality of life.

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Fund professor Marc Boogaerts

The Fund Professor Marc Boogaerts combines the funds Sofhea and Sofhea Cruh under a new name, which is fantastic news for the many blood stem cell transplant patients now and in the future. Other patients will also be helped by basic stem cell research.

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Fund Respiratory Oncology

In Belgium, there are about 8,500 new cases of lung cancer every year. Research into its diagnosis and treatment is therefore crucial, as is the development of global support for patients. This is exactly what this fund aims to do. Among other things, it wants to support research, improve communication with patients, organise symposiums (and help organise them), and invite speakers and researchers to KU Leuven.

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Fund Tom Debackere for lymphoma research

Thanks to the support of an initiative such as the Tom Debackere Fund, researchers can gain a better understanding of lymphoma and talented young scientists can receive the financial support they need to help significantly improve the fate of these patients.

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Fund to promote scientific research on nutrition and metabolic disorders

The innovative aspect of this fund is that we are looking at the role of nutrition as a treatment option. The fund encourages both preclinical research (i.e. better understanding how certain mechanisms work) and intervention studies where nutrition is part of the treatment.

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Fund Translational Transplant Research Mark Waer

The aim of the fund is to promote and support research into transplantation as a therapy in the broad sense. Transplantation is the best treatment for patients with end-stage organ failure.

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Fund Transplantoux

Organ donation is the foundation on which the new life of many people rests. In order to continue to give that kind of second chance to as many people as possible, the Transplantoux Fund supports awareness-raising initiatives on organ donation and transplantation.

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Hans and Els Vandamme Fund for Personalised Cancer Research

The fund promotes and supports the new generation of cancer research that investigates the specific characteristics of tumour cells from individual patients, in order to develop and administer targeted medication to ultimately fight the cancer cells.

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Heart Failure and Heart Transplant Fund

This fund aims to stimulate research into chronic rejection and will support studies into new forms of treatment for patients with end-stage heart failure, such as stem cell transplants and ventricular assist devices.

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KU Leuven Fund for childhood epilepsy

The Fund aims to create a leading European centre within KU Leuven for the research, diagnosis and treatment of children with epilepsy.

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KU Leuven Fund for Cardiac Surgery

To continue improving and refining surgical treatments for heart conditions, researchers need your support. This fund helps create opportunities for research into new and improved techniques for heart failure, congenital heart defects, and valvular disease.

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Leuven Children's Hospital Fund

In October 2018, the first part of the new Leuven Children's Hospital opened its doors. Being sick is never pleasant, and certainly not for children who have to stay a long time due to a serious illness and heavy treatments. These also threaten their development.

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Leuven Uro-Onco Research Fund (LUOR)

The fund aims to promote and support research and education in urology. This includes early detection, optimal diagnostics, local and systemic treatment, payment of research and administrative staff, setting up or helping to set up symposia, inviting speakers, awarding scholarships, inviting qualified researchers to KU Leuven.

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Mathieu Reusens' Fund for brainstem and brain tumours

The purpose of this fund is to financially support research into brainstem and brain tumours, and thus to keep Mathieu's memory alive.

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Parel

Many expectant mothers in Belgium are on their own, struggle to make ends meet, live in poor conditions or do not receive the care they need. Parel wants to commit to them, because everyone has the right to a beautiful postnatal period with the right support.

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Rare Cancer Surgery

The fundraising project of UZ Leuven's Oncological Surgery department supports the treatment of rare tumors in children and adults.

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Research Fund Palliative Care

This research fund supports palliative care for UZ Leuven patients, stimulates scientific research on palliative care and contributes to the interaction between research, education and clinical care. It does this by combining the expertise of researchers and caregivers from medicine, nursing, psychology, sociology, ethics, and religious sciences.

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Research project: breast cancer in the elderly

This research project aims to improve the prognosis and quality of life of elderly people with (breast) cancer.

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Star fund

Do you want to support us? This is possible via the Star fund, Sterretjesfonds called in Dutch. Your support can be used for research, literature and training.

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Verelst Womb Cancer Fund

The fund aims to support and promote research into the cause, early diagnosis, prevention and treatment of uterine cancer.

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