Digital PCR specialist course 2025
11-13 June 2025
The pecialist course on digital PCR (dPCR) will teach you the basics of dPCR, including assay design, dPCR optimization, data analysis and good experimental practice. We will start with a basic intruduction of dPCR and explain possible applications using case studies in the field of cancer research and virology. The course will be taught by experts in the field of dPCR from Ghent University. Hands on training on dPCR devices will be provided by Bio-Rad, Stilla Technologies, Qiagen, ThermoFisher and Roche. The course is open for academic and non academic researchers, registrations will open at the start of 2025.
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Course program
Date and location
The course will take place on 11, 12 and 13 June 2025 at the faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Ghent University.
Day 1
| 08:30-10:00 | Introduction to digital PCR Ward De Spiegelaere |
| 10:00-10:20 | Coffee break |
| 10:20-12:30 | dPCR applications, genotyping, mutation detection, infectious diseases, target integrity, oncology Ward De Spiegelaere, Wim Trypsteen & Jo Vandesompele |
| 12:30-13:30 | Lunch |
| 13:30-15:00 | Assay design including hands on training Jo Vandesompele |
| 15:00-15:20 | Coffee break |
| 15:20-17:00 | Hands on introduction to dPCR platforms Stilla Technologies, Optolane, Bio-Rad, Qiagen, Roche, ThermoFisher |
Day 2
| 08:30-10:00 | Commercial software solutions for dPCR analysis Stilla Technologies, Optolane, Bio-Rad, Qiagen, Roche, ThermoFisher |
| 10:00-10:20 | Coffee break |
| 10:20-11:00 | Data interpretation Wim Trypsteen |
| 11:00-12:30 | dPCR assay optimization Antoon Lievens |
| 12:30-13:00 | Lunch |
| 13:00-13:40 | Higher order multiplexing theory, applications, assay design and validation Matthijs Vynck and Ward De Spiegelaere |
| 13:40-15:0 | Partition classification methods and validation Matthijs Vynck |
| 15:00-15:20 | Coffee break |
| 15:20-16:30 | RNA quantification + single cell applications Ward De Spiegelaere |
Day 3
| 08:30-10:00 | dPCR calibration and validation Olivier Thas and Matthijs Vynck |
| 10:00-10:20 | Coffee break |
| 10:20-12:30 | Experimental design + Flexible data analysis Olivier Thas |
| 12:20-13:00 | Lunch |
| 13:00-17:00 | concurrent hands-on sessions combined with meet the expert/company sessions |
Our teachers
Ward De Spiegelaere
Ghent UniversityFaculty of Veterinary Medicine
Ward De Spiegelaere
Ghent UniversityFaculty of Veterinary Medicine
Ward De Spiegelaere
Ward heads the dPCR facility at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. He works on higher order multiplexing and partition clustering for various dPCR applications, including pathogen detection, mutation analysis and quality control of RNA and DNA by dPCR.
Ward.DeSpiegelaere@UGent.be
Wim Trypsteen
Ghent UniversityFaculty of Medicine and Health Science
Wim Trypsteen
Ghent UniversityFaculty of Medicine and Health Science
Wim Trypsteen
Research on treshold setting, applications of dPCR in absolute HIV DNA and RNA quantification and analysis of HIV intactness
Wim.Trypsteen@UGent.be
Olivier Thas
Steering committeeFaculty of Science
Olivier Thas
Steering committeeFaculty of Science
Olivier Thas
Olivier's research focusses on the development and application of flexible statistical methods for the analysis of biomolecular quantitation experiments.
Olivier.Thas@UGent.be
Jo Vandesompele
Ghent UniversityFaculty of Medicine and Health Science
Jo Vandesompele
Ghent UniversityFaculty of Medicine and Health Science
Jo Vandesompele
Jo has a long-standing track record in method development for PCR based quantification of nucleic acids. The lab focuses on PCR primer design, the study of pre-analytical variables, and data-analysis. Applications are being developed in the context of oncology and liquid biopsies.
Jo.Vandesompele@UGent.be
Matthijs Vynck
Postdoctoral Researcher
Matthijs Vynck
Postdoctoral Researcher
Matthijs Vynck
Biostatistician with molecular biology background focussing on clustering analysis of dPCR data and statistical data analysis of dPCR experiments
Matthijs.Vynck@UGent.be
Yao Chen
Ghent UniversityFaculty of Science
Yao Chen
Ghent UniversityFaculty of Science
Yao Chen
Yao's research focuses on the statistical analysis of higher-order multiplexing dPCR data. She also develops visualization tools to make dPCR data exploratorion easier.
Yao.Chen@UGent.be
David Gleerup
Ghent UniversityFaculty of Veterinary Medicine
David Gleerup
Ghent UniversityFaculty of Veterinary Medicine
David Gleerup
David’s work is focused on designing and validating new higher order multiplex assays for digital PCR within the fields of both veterinary and human medicine.
DavidGrandjean.Gleerup@UGent.be
Antoon Lievens
Ghent UniversityVisiting Scientist
Antoon Lievens
Ghent UniversityVisiting Scientist
Antoon Lievens
Molecular biologist & statistician with a career in method qPCR & dPCR development in the fields of GMO, Food Fraud, and plant breeding. Focus on research and development of (d)dPCR analysis tools.
