Team
& Founding Members
Meet our Management Team
Our management team is a group of experienced professionals dedicated to driving growth and innovation. With a shared vision and diverse expertise, they lead our company toward continued success and excellence.
An Van Den Bulcke, PhD
Chief Business Officer/Chief Operations Officer & Co-founder
An Van Den Bulcke holds a PhD in Polymer Chemistry and has an industrial career in product development and R&D management. In 2011 she started as Business Developer at ChemTech valorisation cluster of Ghent University. At UGent, she was responsible for technology transfer and exploitation of new research findings to market-ready technologies and products. Within 4Tissue, An is in charge of operations, manages the strategic IP portfolio and sets up partnerships and out-licensing opportunities.
Els Hubloux
Chief Financial Officer
Prior to joining 4Tissue as CFO, Els was a Partner at Newton Biocapital Partners. She has over 28 years of experience in the life sciences sector, of which 22 years as a venture capital professional. She has been a director of various life sciences and medtech companies. Els holds a Master's degree in chemical engineering.
Lana Van Damme, MD, PhD
CSO & Co-founder
Lana Van Damme received her medical degree from the University of Ghent, where she will start her residency in the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in 2023. In 2018, she obtained an FWO SB mandate for an interdisciplinary PhD project between the faculty of Sciences of Ghent University in the Polymer Chemistry & Biomaterials Research group (PBM) and the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. She has published 3 Q1 articles, as well as co-authored 2 Q1 articles, in the first 2 years.
Vesna Kostanjevecki, PhD
Head of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs
Dr. Vesna Kostanjevecki is a highly experienced leader in clinical and regulatory affairs, currently serving as the Head of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs at 4TIssue. With a robust background in biochemistry and molecular biology, she holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Gent and a Master of Science in Engineering from the University of Zagreb. Before joining 4TIssue, Dr. Kostanjevecki was the Vice President of Clinical & Regulatory Affairs at miDiagnostics, where she played a pivotal role in advancing diagnostic solutions. She also gained valuable experience in R&D at imec, contributing to innovative technologies, and held the position of R&D Director at Fujirebio Europe NV for nearly two decades. Her career has been marked by a commitment to bridging the gap between research, development, and regulatory frameworks, making her a key figure in the clinical and regulatory affairs field.
Meet our Board
Our board is composed of seasoned leaders with diverse expertise, guiding our company with strategic insight and a commitment to long-term success. Their collective experience shapes the future direction of our organization.
Katleen Verleysen, PhD
Independent Chair
Dr. Katleen Verleysen has been active in the Life Sciences sector for over 20 years, holding various CEO, senior management, and board roles across the industry. She is currently the CEO of miDiagnostics and has previously held CEO positions at Pronota (Belgium), CellSeeQ (Belgium), and DNameIT (Belgium). Additionally, she serves on the boards of ImmunExpress (USA), PharmaFluidics (Belgium), and the Center for Medical Innovation (Belgium). During her tenure, she has successfully completed multiple rounds of funding for several of these companies. Dr. Verleysen began her career in the US, where she was one of the founding scientists at Serenex (USA). She also contributed to fine-tuning imec's healthcare strategy and played a key role in establishing strategic partnerships. Katleen holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry and a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Ghent, Belgium. She also received a postdoctoral fellowship at the Medical Center of Duke University (NC, USA)
Phillip Blondeel, MD, PhD
Clinical Expert & Co-founder
Prof. Phillip Blondeel is an internationally leading expert on aesthetic and reconstructive breast surgery and one of the pioneers in the so-called "perforator flap" surgery. He is Professor of Plastic Surgery and head of the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the Ghent University Hospital, Belgium. Prof. Dr. Blondeel has also authored and co-authored numerous books, book chapters and peer reviewed articles. At the end of 2011, Prof. Dr. Blondeel led the team that performed the first face transplant in Belgium (#19 worldwide) and is the Chairman of the Vascularized Composite Tissue Allograft Program at the Ghent University Hospital.
Sandra Van Vlierberghe, PhD
Scientific Expert & Co-founder
Prof. Sandra Van Vlierberghe her research targets to establish "a polymer-based technological platform covering processing and functionalization aspects sufficiently versatile to potentially address a wide range of tissue engineering (TE) challenges". Indeed, her research focuses on the synthesis and the characterization of (crosslinkable) polymers and their processing capabilities. She has acquired expertise related to the synthesis, the modification and the processing (through 3D printing, electrospinning and two-photon polymerization (2PP)) of a variety of (bio)polymers including thermoplastics (e.g. polyesters) and hydrogels (e.g. proteins and polysaccharides) in the field of regenerative medicine during the last 15 years. She authored more than 250 Web of Science Core Collection cited papers of which 146 high impact journal papers. She is treasurer of the Belgian Polymer Group (BPG), former spokesperson of the YSF which is affiliated to the ESB, secretary of the 'Belgian Society for Tissue Engineering' and council member of TERMIS-EU and ESB. In 2017, she received the Jean Leray Award from the European Society for Biomaterials. This award is established to recognize outstanding research in the field of biomaterials by scientists not older than 40 years.
Bernard Depypere, MD
Medical Expert & Co-founder
Bernard Depypere received his medical degree from the University of Ghent. He started his training to become Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon in 2013 and is now part of the department of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery in Ghent. He is a founding member of the Flanders Youth Society for Entrepreneurship (FLYSE), a student society encouraging entrepreneurship. During his medical training he was selected to attend a summer school in designing next generation medical devices at the Trinity Centre for Bioengineering in Trinity College Dublin as part of the European Society for Engineering and Medicine (ESEM). Today, he is a PhD-candidate and co-author of several articles in first quartile journals in the discipline of Plastic & Reconstructive surgery. Two articles have survival of the fat graft as the main topic.
Koen Iterbeke, PhD
Board member, representative Anacura
Koen Iterbeke is an experienced strategic leader with a strong track record in the life sciences and healthcare sectors. Currently serving as the Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) at Anacura, Koen plays a key role in shaping the company's long-term strategy, focusing on the advancement of biotech and pharmaceutical innovation.
Annemie Van De Casteele
Board member
Annemie Van de Casteele is a former Belgian parliament member with a background in pharmacy and healthcare policy. She has served as a municipal councilor, member of the Chamber of Representatives, and Senator.