Meet Sarah Weckhuysen
Sarah Weckhuysen joins the VIB-UAntwerp Center for Molecular Neurology as group leader
Prof. Sarah Weckhuysen is a neurologist specialized in epilepsy, with neurology training from KU Leuven and a PhD in Medical Sciences from the University of Antwerp. She has gained extensive experience working in leading epilepsy centers across Spain, the Netherlands, and France.
Between 2011 and 2018, she conducted her PhD research in the group of Peter De Jonghe at the VIB-Center for Molecular Neurology. After his retirement in 2018, she joined the Rademakers lab when Rosa Rademakers relocated to Belgium in 2019. Now officially appointed as group leader, Sarah continues to combine her clinical role as a neurologist-epileptologist at the University Hospital of Antwerp (UZA) with research at the VIB-Center for Molecular Neurology. Together with her team, she is dedicated to bridging the gap between the clinic and the laboratory, with a clear mission: to improve the diagnosis and treatment of genetic epilepsies and neurodevelopmental disorders.
We sat down with Sarah to learn more about her motivation, her vision for epilepsy research, and what continues to inspire her!
This interview was conducted by Lidia Carotenuto, postdoctoral researcher in the Weckhuysen Lab.
Hi Sarah, welcome to VIB-CMN! As a neurologist, you’ve been studying genetic epilepsies for many years. Why do you think more investment in epilepsy research is so important? And how can studying the genetic forms of epilepsy help advance the field more broadly?
You're absolutely right. Despite being one of the most common neurological conditions, affecting over 50 million people worldwide, epilepsy still receives disproportionately little research funding. One in three people with epilepsy continues to have seizures despite treatment, and for many, the impact goes far beyond the seizures, affecting neurodevelopment, cognition, and mental health.
To truly change outcomes, we need to understand epilepsy at its root causes. That’s where genetic epilepsies, and especially the developmental and epileptic encephalopathies (DEEs), which are characterized by early-life seizures and neurodevelopmental problems, can serve as powerful models. These severe disorders are often caused by single-gene mutations, giving us a more direct window into the biology of epilepsy. By studying them, we can uncover key pathways that may also play a role in more common forms of epilepsy. This knowledge could help us develop better, more targeted treatments, not just for rare diseases, but for broader patient populations as well.
Fascinating. And how do you approach studying such complex and heterogeneous conditions in your research?
These disorders are indeed extremely complex, which is why I’ve built a highly multidisciplinary team. We bring together clinicians, geneticists, bioinformaticians, electrophysiologists, pharmacologists, and stem cell biologists. Each person adds a unique perspective and expertise, it's like solving a puzzle, piece by piece.
As a clinician-scientist, I try to keep the entire trajectory in mind: from identifying genetic mutations to studying their functional impact in patient-derived brain cells, and then linking those insights back to the clinical symptoms we observe. I believe this integration, connecting the clinic with the lab, is what allows us to ask better, more meaningful questions and, ultimately, get closer to real solutions.
It’s clear your work is deeply rooted in both science and patient care. What originally drew you to this field?
I think the story starts early. I grew up as the child of two medical doctors, so medicine was always part of my world. Naturally, that made me want to do something completely different. But in my final year of high school, we had a basic genetics course, just Mendel’s peas and inheritance patterns, but I was instantly hooked. That course completely changed my mind, and I chose to study medicine after all.
Later, I was drawn to neurology because I was fascinated by how the brain works. Epilepsy stood out as one of the most dynamic and puzzling subspecialties. Once I started working with individuals affected by severe genetic epilepsies, everything came full circle. I could connect my early passion for genetics with my clinical work as a neurologist. My current focus on DEEs really came from the frustration of not being able to offer effective treatments. Often, we can control seizures to some extent, but we can’t change the broader course of the disease. That frustration became a powerful motivator. Genetics offers a way to uncover the fundamental mechanisms—and, hopefully, provide families with answers and better therapies.
And if you hadn’t gone down the path of becoming a scientist, what do you think you’d be doing today?
For a long time, I actually wanted to become a professional musician. I played the piano seriously throughout my youth and even considered going to the conservatory. In the end, I chose medicine, but music has always remained close to my heart.
These days, with a busy career, a young family, and trying to find time for friends, I rarely play anymore. And honestly, it’s frustrating, I just can’t play the way I used to. But music still plays an important role in my life. It helps me disconnect from the analytical mindset that science demands. Whether I’m listening to music or dancing, which I also love, it helps me reset and reconnect with something more intuitive and emotional.
Finally, looking back, what advice do you wish someone had given you at the start of your career?
One piece of advice I would give is: always stay connected to the reason you started. That’s what gives you direction, and resilience. Science should be more than just a job. It should be driven by passion. For me, the patients have always been my guiding force. The most important research questions I’ve pursued came directly from clinical frustrations, situations where I didn’t have answers for my patients. Holding on to that motivation has helped me focus, especially when the academic noise gets overwhelming.
And I’ve also learned that science is not a solo effort. Surrounding yourself with people who are both excellent at what they do and generous with their knowledge makes all the difference. This is something I learned from my mentor, Peter De Jonghe, now a retired PI at VIB. The right team turns complex problems into meaningful opportunities, and makes the journey a lot more rewarding.
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