Frederic Pierard Email & Phone Number

Brussels, Be

Brussels Area, Belgium

My work at the Technology Transfer Office is to promote and manage interactions between the scientists performing innovative research in Life Sciences at the University and external public and private stakeholders. In the framework of the Intellectual Property policy developed so that the University becomes a leading actor in technological and economical developments, I have been appointed as operational manager in charge of the intellectual property protection of research results (patenting of inventions) in Life Sciences and the negotiation of license agreements with industries in this sector from November 2018. I am also involved in the creation and follow-up of spin-offs companies.Facilitating the development of collaborative research efforts with academic and industrial partners -i.e. in the framework of collaborative research projects - is another way to foster technological and economical ties between the University and the industrial world. In this framework, I have been in charge the management of the funding programs of the Wallonn Region from Jan 2013 to Sep 2018 within the ULB-TTO.

I took up a F.N.R.S. post-doctoral position in 2004 to delve into the emerging field of bio-inspired nanotechnology and initiate research in this area at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. My work as F.N.R.S. researcher focused on the use of synthetic oligonucleotides to develop new nanomaterials through self-assembly. The ”bottom-up” approach in nanotechnology intends to use molecular recognition to create supramolecular architectures. In this framework, the DNA code is increasingly exploited to program the self-assembly of complex nanostructures. My research in this field concerned the development of novel hybrid DNA nanonetworks including non-nucleic photo-active molecules and their characterization by atomic force microscopy and gel electrophoresis techniques as well as their detailed photophysical study.

Biotechnology and the Life Sciences are sectors undergoing constant growth. The rich industrial and academic research micro-environment of Wallonia make it a region that is always at the cutting edge of innovation in this sector.As experts in technology and knowledge transfer in Life Sciences and Biotechnology, we are here to support researchers, businesses, public institutions, and members of civil society:to establish research and development partnerships between Universities and external partnersto identify the sector’s needs and act as a one-stop shop within the Universities in order to optimize knowledge transfer and spin-off creationThrough these actions, our aim is to foster innovation and to accelerate regional development in Life Sciences.

After completing my Ph.D. studies in the area of photophysical studies of transition metal complexes and their use as DNA photoprobes at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, I took up a Marie Curie post-doctoral position at the Chalmers University of Technology in Göteborg where I designed and studied new DNA metallo-intercalators. Luminescent octahedral metal complexes that bind to DNA are extensively studied in order to increase the understanding of genetic information processing. In this project, the pure enantiomers of several Ru(II) complexes bearing dione functionalized ligands were stereospecifically synthesized and studied in the presence of DNA by means of ultrafast time-resolved laser spectroscopy and polarized-light spectroscopy.

During my stay in Sweden, I have first been appointed by the Chalmers University of Technology. During this period, I have benefited from an excellent training in the state-of-the-art technology of both polarized light spectroscopy and ultrafast laser spectroscopy. I gained expertise in these powerful techniques through their extensive implementation in the study of a system that had been the focus of my previous investigations in my home institution during my Ph.D. thesis.

Ph.D., Sciences (Physical Chemistry)

Activities and Societies: Co-supervision of a final year dissertation at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, awarded Magna Cum Laude (1999).

Bachelor, Chemistry

June 28, 1996 Summa Cum Laude June 30, 1995 Magna Cum Laude July 08, 1994 Magna Cum Laude July 01, 1993 Magna Cum Laude Dissertation: ”DNA.