Kevin Verstrepen

Kevin Verstrepen is the director of the Leuven Institute for Beer Research, professor in Genetics and Genomics at Leuven University, and Director of the VIB Center for Microbiology. Verstrepen studied biological engineering at the Leuven University (KU Leuven) in Belgium. After obtaining his PhD, Verstrepen joined the lab of genetics pioneer Gerald Fink at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, USA, where he studied the origins of instabilities in the yeast genome. In 2006, he was appointed as a Bauer Fellow at Harvard University where he started teaching industrial microbiology and fermentation to Harvard undergraduate students. In 2009, Verstrepen returned to Leuven University in Belgium where his team continues to focus on the genetic improvement of beer yeasts. In 2012, Verstrepen was appointed director of the newly established Leuven Institute for Beer Research (LIBR), a joint research center that unites five different beer research teams. Kevin Verstrepen is most known for his research into the genetics of beer yeasts and the development of novel superior brewing yeasts. He authored over 100 scientific publications and book chapters about beer, beer yeasts and fermentation.