James letting off a little steam
James Dooley
James is being very mysterious and has refused to write a paragraph for the website. There are reliable rumours however that he is native Seattleite and speaks Canadian as a second language. He joined the Autoimmune Genetics lab in 2009 as lab manager and is running the ERC funded research projects. 
Determined
Tian Lei
Lei has a Bachelor of Science in Biotechnology and a Masters in Immunology from Northwest A&F University in China. She likes swimming, basketball, badminton and cooking, and has moved to Belgium to start her PhD on diabetes.
Wim carefully controls what photos are available of him on the internet
Wim Pierson
Wim was born in Bree, which (according to wikipedia) is the place where Gandalf the Grey met Thorin Oakenshield and planned the Quest of Erebor. Bree is also the only place on Middle Earth where men and hobbits live side by side. Wim is researching the basic biology of regulatory T cells for his PhD.
Wim is funded by the IWT.
Dina Danso-Abeam
Dina got her B.Sc. in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana and then moved to Belgium for her Masters degree at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. She has joined the medical research community to help make the world a better place to live. Her PhD is on understanding the interaction of human genetics and immunology. In her spare time Dina likes taking pictures, singing and dancing. Dina is funded by the IRO.
Susann Schönefeldt
When I was 12 years I already knew I wanted to work in a science lab and discover things the eye can't see. I'm interested in creative activities like working with ceramics and I used to take singing lessons. I love cats and dogs and horses and donkeys. Had them all except the donkey, sadly enough, though my horse had the attitude of one sometimes ;). I did karate as a teen and I will try to pick up on it again... let's see how I like kickboxing. I was born in Brandenburg / Germany and I came to Leuven two years ago.
Anh Nguyen
Anh is from Can Tho, a city situated in the heart of Melong Delta, Viet Nam. She got her BSc in Biotechnology at Can Tho University, VietNam and then completed her MSc in Molecular Biology at KUL, Belgium. Her interest now is working on interactive relationships between the intestinal bacteria and host’s immune system. She likes traveling and cooking - but does not feel confident to let people try her food :-)
Anh is a VIB International Scholar in a joint PhD program with Jeroen Raes.
Dean Franckaert
I am a Masters student in the Autoimmune Genetics lab. I live in Antwerp and got my bachelor degree in Biomedical sciences at KUL. I used to do a lot of sports like jiu-jitsu and waterskiing. I love going to the seaside, riding my motorcycle and mountainbike, spending some time with friends and reading an occasional book. 
Nathalie Heirman
I just finished my bachelor degree in biomedical science in Leuven. I am currently working as a Masters student, researching the interaction between obesity and cancer. I live in Rotselaar in the weekend and in the week I spend my time in Leuven. As a teenager I did athletics, now I only run for my bus. Except my daily exercise of running, I like reading and cooking.
Shari Zaman
I'm a bachelor student in biomedical sciences who would love to master in medicine. My interest in the medical world came rather late, but hasn't let go ever since. Besides working in the lab as a job student I volunteer at the Red Cross Leuven and take French classes at night. No time for hobbies, but in the holidays I like to read or go on hiking trips.
Finella Akor
I’ve always been curious about how everything in the human body works and envisioned myself finding all the answers in a lab since I was about 14 years old. I’ll be starting my Masters in biomedical science this year and I’m looking forward to all the new things I’ll be learning. I used to practice Judo on a competitive level and I’m considering picking it up again. Apart from martial arts in general, I also love singing and reading. I’m quite fond of the Japanese culture, especially after my trip to Japan (this picture was taken in Osaka), so I’ve been (trying to) teach myself Japanese in my free time (which isn’t much).