Speaker Profile
M.D., Ph.D., Professor, KU Leuven
Biography
Maarten Naesens, M.D., Ph.D., is Professor at KU Leuven and a transplant physician-scientist focused on improving long-term outcomes after kidney transplantation. His research combines clinical data, tissue pathology, molecular profiling, and computational approaches to understand why transplanted kidneys fail and how rejection can be detected and treated more precisely. His group studies the biology of alloimmune injury, chronic graft damage, and treatment response using transcriptomics, single-cell and spatial technologies, circulating biomarkers, and cell-free DNA. Dr. Naesens is also involved in efforts to integrate these data into clinical decision-support tools that can move transplant care beyond conventional histology and one-size-fits-all immunosuppression. Through KU Leuven and University Hospitals Leuven, he has contributed to large translational cohorts linking molecular findings with longitudinal patient outcomes. His work aims to define actionable disease states, identify earlier signals of rejection or injury, and develop precision strategies that preserve graft function while minimizing unnecessary immunosuppression and treatment toxicity.
Session Abstract – PMWC 2027 Silicon Valley
Track Chair:
Christina Curtis, Stanford
PMWC Award Ceremony
• Joe DeRisi, UCSF / CZ Biohub / Delve Bio (Luminary)
• Alexandre Loupy, Inserm / Paris Transplant Group (Pioneer)
Featured Speakers
• Joe DeRisi, UCSF / CZ Biohub / Delve Bio
• Alexandre Loupy, Inserm / Paris Transplant Group
• Minnie Sarwal, UCSF
• Kiran Khush, Stanford
• Iwijn De Vlaminck, Cornell
• Maarten Naesens, KU Leuven
• Charles Chiu, UCSF
• Michael Snyder, Stanford
• Duncan MacCannell, CDC
• Chaz Langelier, UCSF
• Yoel Sadovsky, Stanford
• Ananth Karumanchi, Cedars-Sinai
• Gabriel Bien-Willner, Palmetto GBA / MolDX
• Dawn Cardeiro, Roche Diagnostics
• Bruce Quinn, Bruce Quinn Associates
Transplant & Organ Health Diagnostics
From biopsy to blood-based monitoring of rejection, injury, and infection.
Blood-Based Omics and Host Response in Infection
Metagenomics and host-response signals for difficult infectious disease cases.
Maternal & Fetal Health
From prenatal screening to actionable maternal and placental biomarkers.
From Signal to Standard of Care
What makes a non-cancer blood test clinically actionable and reimbursable.
Davos of Precision Medicine
PMWC 2027 Program
January 27–29, 2027 · Santa Clara Convention Center
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