Elise Vanden Elsacker

Dr. Elise Elsacker graduated her MSc in Architecture at KULeuven in 2012, after which she worked as an architect at LAVA in Berlin and Ney & Partners in Brussels. She started her PhD in 2017 on the topic of mycelium materials and initiated interdepartmental collaborations between Architectural Engineering, Microbiology and Physical Chemistry. She successfully defended her PhD in 2021 with the highest distinction and felicitations from the jury and received the BiR&D Cross-Disciplinary PhD Thesis Award. Her research involved characterizing critical factors affecting the biological and material properties of mycelium composites. Additionally, she explored innovative applications of mycelium in architecture using cutting-edge technologies like 3D-printing and robotic wire-cutting.

She then moved to the UK to pursue a Postdoctoral Research Associate position at the Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment, Newcastle University working on Living Mycelium Materials in the research group “Living Construction”, led by Prof. Martyn Dade-Roberson and Meng Zhang. Her work was pioneering the development of materials in which fungal organisms maintain viability during their lifespan. She was also involved in the development and fabrication of the Bioknit pavilion. Research that focuses on the biocompatibility of knitted fabrics as a scaffold for growth, highlighting the potential to create complex forms using textile fibers.

Currently, she holds an FWO junior postdoctoral research fellow and 10% research assistant professor position at the Department of Bio-engineering Sciences, Microbiology. Her research is at the forefront of developing Fungal Engineered Living Materials, ultimately leading to the self-healing of mycelium materials when damaged. Elise is also actively involved in the EIC Pathfinder project named "FUNGATERIA," which focuses on harnessing fungal-bacterial consortia to produce Engineered Living Materials.