# Pierre Vanderhaeghen
**Pierre Vanderhaeghen** is a Belgian developmental neuroscientist who studies how human cortical neurons are generated and specified, and which human-specific genes set that process apart from other mammals. He heads the Laboratory of Stem Cell and Developmental Neurobiology at the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research, where he is a full professor (BOF) at the Faculty of Medicine, and he remains affiliated with the Institute of Interdisciplinary Research (IRIBHM) at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB).[1](https://www.kuleuven.be/wieiswie/en/person/u0089481) • [2](https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(18)30434-3) His lab pioneered combining pluripotent stem cell models in vitro with xenotransplantation into mouse brains to follow human neural development in vivo, and it has identified roles for human-specific genes in cortical neuron development and for mitochondria in setting the tempo of that development.[3](https://www.sfari.org/people/pierre-vanderhaeghen/)
| Key facts | |
|---|---|
| Field | Developmental neuroscience of human cortical neuron development and specification[3](https://www.sfari.org/people/pierre-vanderhaeghen/) |
| Current roles | Head, Laboratory of Stem Cell and Developmental Neurobiology, VIB-KU Leuven; full professor (BOF), Faculty of Medicine, KU Leuven; affiliated with IRIBHM, ULB[1](https://www.kuleuven.be/wieiswie/en/person/u0089481) • [2](https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(18)30434-3) |
| Training | MD 1992 and PhD 1996 (Gilbert Vassart's lab), ULB; postdoc on axon guidance with John Flanagan, Harvard Medical School, 1996–2000[3](https://www.sfari.org/people/pierre-vanderhaeghen/) • [2](https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(18)30434-3) • [4](https://curesyngap1.org/calendar/webinar-73-linking-syngap1-with-human-specific-mechanisms-of-neuronal-development/) |
| Career moves | Own lab at ULB from 2001; founding director of the ULB Neuroscience Institute; moved to Leuven in 2018[3](https://www.sfari.org/people/pierre-vanderhaeghen/) |
| Signature work | "Human-Specific NOTCH2NL Genes Expand Cortical Neurogenesis through Delta/Notch Regulation", *Cell*, 2018[5](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2018.03.067) |
| Major funding | ERC Advanced Grant GENDEVOCORTEX (2013), €2,473,937, ended 30 September 2019 |[6](https://www.ulb.be/en/erc-projects/erc-research-project-gendevocortex-pierre-vanderhaeghen) • [7](https://erc.europa.eu/projects-statistics/science-stories/how-did-human-brains-get-so-large)
| Honors | Francqui Prize; Roger de Spoelberch Foundation Prize[2](https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(18)30434-3) |
## Career and training
Vanderhaeghen trained as a physician-scientist at ULB, earning an MD in 1992 and a PhD in 1996 in [Gilbert Vassart](https://www.edgepedia.org/gilbert-vassart)'s lab, before doing a postdoc on axon guidance with [John Flanagan](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-flanagan) at Harvard Medical School from 1996 to 2000.[3](https://www.sfari.org/people/pierre-vanderhaeghen/) • [2](https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(18)30434-3) • [4](https://curesyngap1.org/calendar/webinar-73-linking-syngap1-with-human-specific-mechanisms-of-neuronal-development/) In 2001 he established his own laboratory at ULB, where he became a professor and the founding director of the ULB Neuroscience Institute, focusing on mechanisms of cortical development.[3](https://www.sfari.org/people/pierre-vanderhaeghen/) • [2](https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(18)30434-3) In 2018 he moved to Leuven as full professor at [KU Leuven](https://www.edgepedia.org/ku-leuven)'s Department of Neurosciences and group leader at the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research; he is also a member of the KU Leuven Brain Institute.[3](https://www.sfari.org/people/pierre-vanderhaeghen/) • [1](https://www.kuleuven.be/wieiswie/en/person/u0089481)
## Representative work
His signature study, published in *Cell* in 2018, asked which human-specific duplicated genes act during the development of the fetal cortex. Using tailored RNA sequencing, the study profiled the spatial and temporal expression of hominid-specific duplicated genes in human fetal cortex and identified a repertoire of 35 such genes with robust, dynamic patterns during cortical neurogenesis.[5](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2018.03.067) • [8](https://vanderhaeghenlab.sites.vib.be/en/projects/human-specific-genes-cortical-development-and-brain-evolution) Among them, the NOTCH2NL genes, human-specific paralogs of the NOTCH2 receptor, were shown to promote the clonal expansion of human cortical progenitors, ultimately producing higher neuronal output; at the molecular level they activate the Notch pathway by inhibiting cis Delta/Notch interactions within the same cell.[5](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2018.03.067) • [17](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6092419/) A later review describes the three NOTCH2NL genes, present only in the human genome, as human-specific activators of the Notch pathway that drive radial glial cell expansion, prolonged neurogenesis, and increased cortical neuronal production.[9](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36792753/)
## Human-specific cortical development
Beyond NOTCH2NL, the lab's program links human genome evolution to the cell biology of cortical neurons. Its 2023 *Cell* paper showed that the hominid-specific gene LRRC37B encodes a receptor expressed in human cortical pyramidal neurons and selectively localized to the axon initial segment, the compartment that triggers action potentials.[10](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10754148/) LRRC37B binds the secreted ligand FGF13A and the voltage-gated sodium channel β-subunit SCN1B, concentrating FGF13A's inhibitory effects on sodium channel function and reducing excitability specifically at the axon initial segment; ectopic expression in mouse cortical neurons in vivo lowers intrinsic excitability, and recordings in adult human cortical slices show lower excitability in LRRC37B-expressing neurons.[10](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10754148/) The LRRC37 family also includes the human-specific gene LRRC37A3.[10](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10754148/)
The lab's earlier work also connected developmental gene regulation to cancer: a 2014 *Cancer Cell* study showed that a BCL6/BCOR/SIRT1 complex that triggers neurogenesis represses Sonic Hedgehog signaling and thereby suppresses medulloblastoma.[11](https://pvdhlab.org/papers) A 2012 *Nature Neuroscience* study found that [BCL6](https://www.edgepedia.org/bcl6) controls neurogenesis through Sirt1-dependent epigenetic repression of selective Notch targets.[11](https://pvdhlab.org/papers)
## Honors and funding
In 2013 Vanderhaeghen received an ERC Advanced Grant, GENDEVOCORTEX (grant agreement No 340020, call ERC-2013-ADG, LS5), worth €2,473,937 and hosted at ULB, ending 30 September 2019; its hypothesis was that species-specific features of human cortical development, especially the generation and differentiation of pyramidal neurons, are linked to hominid-specific genes controlling corticogenesis.[6](https://www.ulb.be/en/erc-projects/erc-research-project-gendevocortex-pierre-vanderhaeghen) • [7](https://erc.europa.eu/projects-statistics/science-stories/how-did-human-brains-get-so-large) His work has also been recognized with the Francqui Prize and the Roger de Spoelberch Foundation Prize.[2](https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(18)30434-3)
## Recent developments
In 2024 the lab published two linked *Neuron* studies on synaptic neoteny, the unusually slow synaptic maturation of human cortical neurons. One showed that SRGAP2B/C, two human-specific duplications of the ancestral synaptic gene SRGAP2A, act with SYNGAP1 through cross-inhibition to balance the synaptic neoteny of human cortical pyramidal neurons.[12](https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(24)00645-7) The second showed that SYNGAP1 mutations disrupt this prolonged development, with SYNGAP1-deficient human neurons integrating faster into cortical circuits; in xenotransplanted mice, circuits containing human neurons lacking SYNGAP1 fired in response to visual stimuli three months earlier than controls.[13](https://press.vib.be/when-faster-is-not-better-new-study-links-premature-development-of-human-neurons-to-brain-developmental-disorders) • [14](https://www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/protein-tug-of-war-controls-pace-of-synaptic-development-sets-human-brains-apart/) VIB announced these results in August and October 2024, framing them as a link between genes present only in human DNA and SYNGAP1, a gene mutated in intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders.[13](https://press.vib.be/when-faster-is-not-better-new-study-links-premature-development-of-human-neurons-to-brain-developmental-disorders) • [15](https://press.vib.be/scientists-discover-unexpected-link-between-genes-involved-in-human-brain-evolution-and-developmental-disorders)
Current KU Leuven project records (2025 to 2028) list Vanderhaeghen as promotor of work on LRRC37B mechanisms of action and cortical circuit function, as co-promotor of a project on AI-driven discovery of gene-regulatory mechanisms underlying human neuronal evolution, as promotor of work linking mitochondria metabolism and neurodevelopmental diseases in human neuronal development (2025 to 2029), and as promotor of a SYNGAP1 haploinsufficiency project (2026 to 2028).[1](https://www.kuleuven.be/wieiswie/en/person/u0089481) A Generet-funded project uses xenotransplantation of human neurons in mouse brain to model SYNGAP1 and MECP2 diseases and will test knock-down and antisense oligonucleotide approaches targeting SRGAP2 genes therapeutically.[16](https://research.kuleuven.be/portal/en/project/3M250687)
## References
1. KU Leuven who's who: Pierre Vanderhaeghen. https://www.kuleuven.be/wieiswie/en/person/u0089481
2. https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(18)30434-3
3. SFARI: Pierre Vanderhaeghen. https://www.sfari.org/people/pierre-vanderhaeghen/
4. CURE SYNGAP1 webinar: Linking SYNGAP1 with human-specific mechanisms of neuronal development. https://curesyngap1.org/calendar/webinar-73-linking-syngap1-with-human-specific-mechanisms-of-neuronal-development/
5. Human-Specific NOTCH2NL Genes Expand Cortical Neurogenesis through Delta/Notch Regulation. Cell, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2018.03.067
6. ULB: ERC research project GENDEVOCORTEX. https://www.ulb.be/en/erc-projects/erc-research-project-gendevocortex-pierre-vanderhaeghen
7. ERC: How did human brains get so large? https://erc.europa.eu/projects-statistics/science-stories/how-did-human-brains-get-so-large
8. Vanderhaeghen Lab: Human-specific genes, cortical development, and brain evolution. https://vanderhaeghenlab.sites.vib.be/en/projects/human-specific-genes-cortical-development-and-brain-evolution
9. Developmental mechanisms underlying the evolution of human cortical circuits (PubMed, PMID 36792753). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36792753/
10. LRRC37B is a human modifier of voltage-gated sodium channels and axon excitability in cortical neurons (PMC full text). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10754148/
11. PVDHLAB.ORG: Papers. https://pvdhlab.org/papers
12. https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(24)00645-7
13. VIB press release, 7 August 2024: When faster is not better. https://press.vib.be/when-faster-is-not-better-new-study-links-premature-development-of-human-neurons-to-brain-developmental-disorders
14. The Transmitter: Protein tug-of-war controls pace of synaptic development. https://www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/protein-tug-of-war-controls-pace-of-synaptic-development-sets-human-brains-apart/
15. VIB press release, 14 October 2024: Unexpected link between genes involved in human brain evolution and developmental disorders. https://press.vib.be/scientists-discover-unexpected-link-between-genes-involved-in-human-brain-evolution-and-developmental-disorders
16. KU Leuven Research Portal: Modelling orphan neurodevelopmental diseases and treatments in human neurons in vivo. https://research.kuleuven.be/portal/en/project/3M250687
17. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6092419/
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Life and health scientists › Life scientists › Researchers in neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Cortical development and neurogenesis*
*Initially written Sep 21, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 25, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Sep 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license