Karine Hellemans is a MSc in Biology and has a PhD in Medical Sciences. She is Professor at Brussels Free University-VUB since 2006, coordinates since 2011 the multicenter program of the Diabetes Research Center in Brussels and is head of the coordination unit of the Center for Beta Cell Therapy in Diabetes. Over the past 13 years she has coordinated successful large center grants in beta cell therapy. Her recent research focusses on signal transduction mechanisms to control the functional beta cell mass, as well as on the development of biomaterials and preclinical methods to improve beta cell function in situ and in implants.