Meet our team

Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Institute of Neuroscience/Clinical neuroscience (NEUR),  UCLouvain
Cliniques Universitaires Saint Luc (CUSL)

Prof Riëm El Tahry is a neurologist specialized in epilepsy and sleep disorders at Cliniques Universitaires Saint Luc (CUSL). She was trained at Ghent University Hospital and obtained her PhD in 2011, entitled “Innovative neurophysiological mechanisms and technologies in refractory epilepsy”. In 2015, she performed a research fellowship at Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, USA. Since September 2017, she is working as a Professor at the Institute of Neuroscience (IoNS), Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain). She has specific interest in refractory epilepsy, epilepsy surgery, and neurostimulation. She performs translational research with VNS as main research topic and is director of the Epilepsy and Neuromodulation Laboratory (ENL) at the UCLouvain.

Adresses:

• CUSL, Neurologie, 10, avenue Hippocrate à 1200 Bruxelles
• IoNS/NEUR/ENL : Avenue Mounier 53/B1.53.05
  1200 Woluwe-Saint-Lambert

Enrique is a biomedical and electrical engineer who began his academic career with a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from the Universidad de Concepción, Chile, in 2014. Thereafter, in 2015, he performed a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the same university and completed his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 2020. His research interests are broadly centered around biomedical and physiological signal acquisition systems and signal processing. Since 2022, Dr. Germany is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Université Catholique de Louvain in Brussels, Belgium. He has extensive experience in both hardware and software development. He is actively involved in  EEG and pupillometry analyses in patients as well as vagus nerve electroneurogram analysis in rodents.

Profesional Website: https://www.egermany.cl

Dr. Dereli completed her PhD in Molecular Neuroscience at the University of New South Wales, Australia. Her primary research explored the peptidergic mechanisms underlying the adaptation of central chemoreception in chronic respiratory diseases. She completed her PhD during the COVID-19 pandemic, which provided an opportunity to begin her postdoctoral career at the Max Planck Research Unit for Neurogenetics, where she conducted research on COVID-19 and its effects on the brain. During this time, she studied viral neurotropism and the neuropathological changes in the brains of deceased COVID-19 patients. This work sparked her growing interest in translational neuroscience. In 2023, she joined the Epilepsy and Neurostimulation Lab, where she now investigates central chemoreception in epilepsy and sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP).

Dr. Santalucia is specialized in child neurology and epileptology. He graduated from “Université Libre de Bruxelles” (ULB) and then moved to Saint-Luc University Clinics where he joined the team of Pediatric Neurology as well as the Reference Center for Refractory Epilepsy and the Institute for Rare Diseases. In September 2021, he started a PhD programme at UCLouvain and he joined half-time the Epilepsy and Neuromodulation Laboratory (ENL) to pursue a research activity under the supervision of Pr Riëm El Tahry. The main topics of his project are the identification of epileptic activity using the EEG-MRI source localization and the evaluation of cognitive outcomes in different forms of childhood epilepsy and their treatment, namely vagus nerve stimulation, applying EEG functional connectivity analyses.

Dr Joris is a neurosurgeon specialized in pediatric neurosurgery and epilepsy surgery, graduated from the UCLouvain. He further performed a fellowship in pediatric neurosurgery in Montreal (Hôpital Ste-Justine). In January 2023, he joined the Epilepsy and Neuromodulation Lab, to improve the presurgical work-up of drug resistant epilepsy patient. Dr Joris uses advanced MRI sequences (microstructure analysis, rs-fMRI) to identify epileptogenic networks non-invasively.

Elise is a neurobiologist graduated from the University of Poitiers, France. She concluded her master’s thesis at Karolinska Institutet (Stockholm), under the guidance of Gilberto Fisone. In 2022, Elise became a part of the Epilepsy and Neuromodulation Lab. Elise records vagus nerve activity, EEG and photoplethysmography in rats displaying spontaneous absences, aiming to characterize vagus nerve electroneurogram modifications during absence seizures.

Inci holds a master degree in Biomedical Sciences, with a subspecialty in Neuroscience from the UCLouvain. She performed her master’s thesis in the field of neurostimulation, more specifically Deep Brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease, joining the Epilepsy and Neuromodulation Lab in June 2022. Her research investigates the effect of blue light on the Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Transcutaneous auricular VNS through physiological recordings of the pupil size and EEG, both in healthy subjects and in VNS implanted patients.

Auriane is a neuroscientist graduated from the UCLouvain. She conducted her master’s thesis at the Epilepsy and Neuromodulation Lab, under the guidance of Prof. Riëm El Tahry. In 2023, Auriane started her PhD at the Epilepsy and Neuromodulation Lab, and her research focuses on the characterization of central chemoreception and cardioregulation in sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). Auriane records EEG and photoplethysmography during high CO₂ challenges, in rats displaying focal and secondary generalized seizures, aiming to better understand mechanisms of SUDEP.

Ana Marta Dias holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Bioengineering, with minor in Biomedical Engineering, from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP). Her experience in neuroscience started in September 2022 with an Erasmus+ internship at the Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group of KU Leuven, in Leuven, Belgium. Back in Porto, Portugal in February 2023, she developed her master’s thesis at the BRAIN Lab of INESC TEC, where she worked with deep brain stimulation biomarkers for epilepsy, under the scope of a collaboration with LMU Klinikum, in Munich, Germany. After earning her master’s degree in October 2023, Marta kept working on this project as a research fellow at INESC TEC, from January to November 2024. In December 2024, she joined the Epilepsy and Neuromodulation Lab at UCLouvain in Brussels, as a PhD student, where she is investigating Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) biomarkers in refractory epilepsy, utilizing pupillometry, P300, and EEG data.

Noussaïba holds a master’s degree in Medicine from the UCLouvain. With a strong interest in neurosciences, she joined the Epilepsy and Neuromodulation Lab in 2025 to study sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). Her goal is to explore a novel strategy for SUDEP prevention by recording the vagus nerve and EEG in rats with lethal seizures. Noussaïba aims also to record photoplethysmography during high CO2 challenges in epileptic rats before and after Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) to characterize its effects on central chemoreception.

Raphaël Vicini earned a Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, at the École Polytechnique de Bruxelles, in 2024. His studies were focused on Medical Imaging and Informatics. Since December 2024, he joined the Epilepsy and Neuromodulation Lab at UCLouvain in Brussels. Raphaël is primarily focused on advanced signal processing techniques applied to 64-channel EEG data acquired during photic stimulation and hyperventilation. His work aims to identify biomarkers associated with vagus nerve stimulation in patients with refractory epilepsy. By analyzing the EEG signals, Raphaël is investigating how these physiological responses can serve as potential indicators of VNS effectiveness, contributing to the development of more precise diagnostic tools and treatment strategies for patients with refractory epilepsy.

Sofiane Bessila is currently in the final year of the second cycle of his master’s degree in Engineering at Institut Agro Montpellier, with a specialization in data science and artificial intelligence applied to life sciences.

Starting in September 2024, he completed a one-year apprenticeship within the agri-food sector, during which he developed a growing interest in neuroscience, a field to which he now aims to dedicate his expertise in data science.

In July and August 2025, he conducted a short internship at the Epilepsy and Neuromodulation Lab at UCLouvain, in Brussels. He worked on the analysis of longitudinal pupillometry data as a biomarker of response to vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) in refractory epilepsy patients.

Najoua is a biomedical sciences student at the UCLouvain. She completed her bachelor’s degree in 2023 and her master’s degree with a focus on neuroscience in 2025, both at the UCLouvain. In 2022, she had the opportunity to undertake a short internship in the Epilepsy and Neuromodulation Laboratory, working on the identification of biomarkers for vagus nerve stimulation (VNS). In 2024, Najoua decided to continue her master’s internship for one year, conducting a study measuring pupillary size differences induced by VNS in patients with refractory epilepsy. The goal of her research was to better understand the mechanisms of VNS and optimize treatment strategies.

Dr Danthine is currently pursuing her neurology training at Cliniques Universitaires Saint Luc. She performed her master thesis in the field of source localisation of interictal acitivity using scalp and SEEG at the Epilepsy and Neuromodulation Lab. Thereafter, she started her PhD in September 2021 and finished in September 2025. Her research was focused on optimizing vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) in patients with refractory epilepsy through various techniques, including EEG, motor evoked potentials, and functional connectivity measures.

Abigaïl is a master’s student in biomedical sciences at the UCLouvain. In 2024, she joined the Epilepsy and Neuromodulation Lab for her thesis within the frame of her master’s degree. Her focus is to characterize the ventilatory and heart rate responses in hypercapnic conditiosn during epileptogenesis. Abigaïl is performing photoplethysmography and EEG recordings in kainic acid rats, a model of temporal lobe epilepsy.

Elena is a molecular biologist graduated from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, where she concluded her master thesis under the guidance of Eric Bellefroid. Thereafter, Elena started her PhD in the Epilepsy and Neuromodulation Lab in 2021, completing it in August 2025. Elena’s work consisted on recording vagus nerve electroneurogram as well as EEG in rats displaying spontaneous convulsive seizures, aiming to detect seizures based on cervical vagus nerve activity modifications.

Andrés is a biomedical engineer graduated from the Polytechnic University of Madrid. He conducted his master’s thesis at Paris-Saclay University in the domain of Computational Neuroscience. In December 2022, Andrés started his PhD in December at the Epilepsy and Neuromodulation Lab at the UCLouvain. Andrés’ work involves monitoring pupil dilation in patients with refractory epilepsy undergoing VNS treatment.

Alexandre Berger earned a Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from UCLouvain (Ecole Polytechnique de Louvain) in 2020, specializing in Medical Physics and Imaging. He pursued a PhD in Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences at UCLouvain, in partnership with the Center for Refractory Epilepsy at Saint-Luc University Hospital, Brussels. He also actively collaborated with Synergia Medical and the Sleep and Chronobiology Lab at the GIGA Institute, University of Liège. During his PhD, Alexandre aimed at developing response and dosing biomarkers to optimize VNS therapy, using electrophysiological recordings of Laryngeal Motor Evoked Potentials (LMEPs) and a multimodal Magnetic Resonance Imaging approach. Currently, he is undertaking a postdoctoral position at the SickKids Research Institute in Toronto, Canada.

Manon DUMOULIN graduated from a Master’s degree in Medicine (UCLouvain, Brussels) in 2018.  She performed a PhD in Medical Sciences at UCLouvain, under the guidance of Pr R. EL TAHRY (Center for Refractory Epilepsy at Saint-Luc University Hospital, Brussels) and Pr A. MOURAUX (NOCIONS lab – Pain Research, Institute of Neuroscience, Brussels). Her work was focused on using a transcutaneous auricular stimulation as potential form of non invasive vagal nerve stimulation, which she studied using electrophysiological recordings such as somatosensory event potentials, quantitative EEG and connectivity analyses.  She is currently undertaking a specialized residency training in Neurology (Belgium, UCLouvain).

Lars holds a Diplom-Ingenieur degree (equivalent to an M.Sc.) in Microsystems Engineering with a focus on life sciences from Albert-Ludwigs University in Freiburg, Germany. He completed the CEMACUBE Bioengineering Erasmus Mundus Master program, earning a Master’s in Neural Engineering from Trinity College Dublin and a Master’s in Biomedical and Clinical Technologies from Czech Technical University in Prague and his PhD in our lab at UCLouvain working on vagus nerve recording in anesthesized rats. With a strong interest in brain-computer interfaces (BCI) and neural prostheses, he has developed a deep understanding of their biological, physical, and computational aspects. He aims to work as a biomedical engineer in a company or research institute focused on developing systems to restore motor or sensory functions, or those of the autonomic nervous system.

Simone Vespa received a Master’s degree in Medicine (MD) from the University of Catania, Italy in 2017. He joined the Center for Refractory Epilepsy at Saint-Luc University Hospital in 2018 for a clinical research fellowship. He later actively collaborated as an expert in Voxel-Based Morphometry and Electrical Source Imaging. He also collaborated with two Belgian medical start-ups: Epilog and Synergia Medical. He is author of >10 peer-reviewed research articles, 5 of which as first author.

He obtained a PhD in Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences at UCLouvain in 2022, for which he was awarded an FNRS “Aspirant” grant, under the supervision of Prof. Riëm El Tahry and in collaboration with UGent (co-promoter: Prof. Pieter van Mierlo). His thesis aimed at developing novel neurophysiological biomarkers to optimise VNS for epilepsy. The research addressed both the peripheral and central neurophysiology of VNS. He developed and validated the novel technique of VNS-induced Laryngeal Motor Evoked Potentials (LMEPs) in humans, a potential marker of effective nerve activation. At central level, he studied EEG-based connectivity and network analyses to search for VNS response biomarkers. In his thesis he also carried out a proof-of-concept study on the characterisation of acute VNS-induced pupillary responses and their dose-dependency.