Sophie Hernot

Sophie Hernot obtained her Master of Science in Bio-engineering from the Vrije Universiteit of Brussels. She completed her PhD thesis in Medical Sciences in 2011 on the use of microbubbles (ultrasound contrast agents) as well as Nanobodies for molecular imaging and drug delivery applications. As post-doctoral researcher, and since 2016 as assistant professor in the Laboratory of In vivo Cellular and Molecular Imaging (ICMI, VUB), her research interests are two-fold: 1) design and validation of nanobodies for optical imaging applications, and in particular towards a clinical translation for image-guided surgery, and 2) validation of nanobody-based molecular probes for identification and characterization of high-risk atherosclerotic lesions. In both cases, particular attention is given to the effects of the nanobody-structure and radioactive or fluorescence labeling of nanobodies on their pharmacokinetics.