Senne Heeren Post-doc

  • senne.heeren@ulb.be

In a nutshell

Senne is a molecular ecologist with a great interest in how the ecology and evolution of organisms can help us to better understand their spatial and temporal dynamics. His drive for conducting research started during an internship at the Centre du Recherche en Hydrobiologie at Lake Tanganiyka (Uvira, DRC) where he worked with two freshwater sardine species; two important species for the local economy and nutrition of the riparian communities. It is because of this experience that he wanted to keep on conducting scientific research. Post graduation, he started a new chapter at the Institute of Tropical Medicine (Antwerp) where he obtained his PhD while working on the (co-)evolutionary history and population dynamics of South American Leishmania parasites and their endogenous leishmaniaviruses. There, he dived into the world of whole-genome sequencing data of both eukaryotic parasites and viruses, adopting population/landscape genomic approaches, developing ecological niche model, as well conducting phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses. Working on these unique virus-host genomic datasets ultimately inspired him to look for ways to integrate viral genomic analyses with the goal to gain more insight into the contemporary population dynamics of their hosts. As a postdoc he is currently working on a project to test whether viruses could be harnessed as genetic tags for monitoring the spatial connectivity between bat populations in Belgium. Interested in what he is currently working on? Click here to learn more!

External links: Google Scholar, ResearchGate, and personal web page

Research interests

His main research interests lie in the gray zone between molecular/spatial epidemiology and nature conservation. This translates into the ambition to reconcile conceptual and methodological angles of both fields to gain more holistic insights on how pathogens and their hosts behave and interact; this from fine to broad spatial and temporal scales. To achieve this, his weapon of choice is using high-throughput sequencing data to address critical global health challenges such as the (re-)emergence of infectious diseases, the loss of biodiversity, and the interplay between pathogens and their hosts.

Publications

Direct sequencing of Leishmania donovani from patients in Garissa County, Northern Kenya, reveals a newly emerging intra-specific hybrid genotype
V. K. Omwenga, G. Kimita, D. Matoke-Muhia, C. Ayieko, C. Masakhwe, M. H. Ibrahim, S. Heeren, J.-C. Dujardin, P. Monsieurs, M. A. Domagalska, and J. Waitumbi. "PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases", Vol. 20, Issue 1, Pages e0013144, 2026.

Viral tags as keys to advancing invasion genomics
T. Everts, S. Dellicour, and S. Heeren. "Trends in Genetics", 2026.

Direct genome sequencing of Leishmania tropica in tissues of Moroccan patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis reveals micro-focal transmission underlain by (pseudo-)clonal and sexual reproduction modes
O. Daoui, P. Monsieurs, H. Talimi, G. F. Späth, J.-C. Dujardin, S. Heeren, M. Lemrani, and M. A. Domagalska. "The Journal of Infectious Diseases", Issue jiaf485, 2025.

Evolutionary genomics of Leishmania braziliensis across the neotropical realm
S. Heeren, M. Sanders, J. J. Shaw, S. Pinto Brandão-Filho, M. Côrtes Boité, L. Motta Cantanhêde, K. Chourabi, I. Maes, A. Llanos-Cuentas, J. Arevalo, J. D. Marco, P. Lemey, J. A. Cotton, J.-C. Dujardin, E. Cupolillo, and F. Van den Broeck. "Communications Biology", Vol. 7, Issue 1, Pages 1587, 2024.

Host lifestyle and parasite interspecific facilitation mediate co-infection in a species-poor host-parasite system
N. Kmentová, A. J. Cruz-Laufer, L. J. M. Milec, T. Moons, S. Heeren, E. van den Hoorn, K. J. M. Thys, L. Makasa, A. Chocha Manda, P. Masilya Mulungula, M. Van Steenberge, M. W. P. Jorissen, and M. P. M. Vanhove. "Oikos", 2024.

A novel strain of Leishmania braziliensis harbors not a toti- but a bunyavirus
A. Y. Kostygov, D. Grybchuk, S. Heeren, E. S. Gerasimov, D. Klocek, A. Reddy, J. Sádlová, L. Pacáková, A. Kohl, F. Stejskal, P. Volf, J.-C. Dujardin, and V. Yurchenko. "PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases", Vol. 18, Issue 12, Pages e0012767, 2024.

Genome diversity of Leishmania aethiopica
A. Hadermann, S. Heeren, I. Maes, J.-C. Dujardin, M. A. Domagalska, and F. Van den Broeck. "Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology", Vol. 13, 2023.

Diversity and dissemination of viruses in pathogenic protozoa
S. Heeren, I. Maes, M. Sanders, L.-F. Lye, V. Adaui, J. Arevalo, A. Llanos-Cuentas, L. Garcia, P. Lemey, S. M. Beverley, J. A. Cotton, J.-C. Dujardin, and F. Van den Broeck. "Nature Communications", Vol. 14, Issue 1, Pages 8343, 2023.

Genome analysis of triploid hybrid Leishmania parasite from the Neotropics
F. Van den Broeck, S. Heeren, I. Maes, M. Sanders, J. A. Cotton, E. Cupolillo, E. Alvarez, L. Garcia, M. Tasia, A. Marneffe, J.-C. Dujardin, and G. Van der Auwera. "Emerging Infectious Diseases", Vol. 29, Issue 5, Pages 1076-1078, 2023.