Research expertise

After obtaining his Master in Biomedical Sciences in 1999, Yven joined the HIV Virology Unit of the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) where he further strengthened his scientific background and obtained a PhD in Medical Sciences in 2004. During the following 3 years as a post-doctoral medical researcher at ITM, Yven was responsible for the management of the HSL-3 HIV lab, the coordination of preclinical HIV research and the implementation of (inter)national preclinical research projects in collaboration with pharma industry and academic partners.

In 2007, Yven joined the pharmaceutical company Servier as an international clinical study manager, thereby extending his experience in preclinical development to the field of applied clinical research. At Servier, Yven was responsible for the development and implementation of essential documents in clinical trials (protocol, ICF, eCRF, monitoring guidelines etc.) as well as for the general follow-up and coordination of international clinical trials according Good Clinical Practice (GCP) guidelines and (inter)national regulatory requirements.

Later on, in 2011, Yven held the position of program leader and project manager at the biotech company Pronota (later renamed into MyCartis), where he bridged between preclinical discovery programs and clinical science through his involvement in biomarker discovery programs, validation of these markers in retrospective and prospective international studies and development of novel biomarker assays.

In 2016, Yven returned to the Institute of Tropical Medicine and became the head of the Clinical Trials Unit (CTU). The CTU is an interdisciplinary unit which supports and coordinates the management of clinical studies with medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and other medical tools, in research areas relevant for patients in Belgium and in the South. Over the last decade, numerous clinical studies have been set-up, coordinated and quality controlled by the CTU according to strict GCP guidelines and (inter)national regulations for designing, conducting, recording and reporting trials that involve the participation of human subjects. All CTU activities are performed by a highly skilled team with expertise in clinical trial project management, pharmacovigilance, statistics and data management, and are conducted in Belgium as well as in the South. In addition to these activities, the CTU is involved in capacity building (training) related to different aspects of clinical trials and clinical research. In his role of head of the CTU, Yven is responsible for the coordination and supervision of all CTU activities, thereby assuring all trials sponsored or carried out by ITM and its research partners are compliant with national and international regulations and according the highest ethical standards.

Since 2021, Yven is also the head of the Clinical Trial Centre (CTC), a novel infrastructure at ITM which  conducts observational and interventional clinical trials in healthy volunteers and patients. These studies evaluate the efficacy and safety of vaccines, therapeutics and/or diagnostics for infectious diseases and are conducted together with academic partners or partners from the life science industry. A dedicated team of study physicians and study nurses, together with non-medical staff, is available for collaboration with ITM physicians and researchers who take on the role of principal investigator in the studies conducted at the CTC.

Teaching expertise

Yven is the programme director of the short course: "Fundamentals of Clinical Studies: GCP & Beyond". This course was developed by the CTU and aims to give participants the relevant basic knowledge, understanding and tools to confidently and critically participate in and/or coordinate clinical studies: https://www.itg.be/en/study/courses/fundamentals-of-clinical-studies-gcp-beyond?tab=about-the-course