Structural Biology

Jan B Parys is a faculty member since 1997, ordinary Professor of Physiology since 2006 and Head of the Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Signaling at the KU

Leuven, Belgium since 2013. His research always concerned the understanding of the mechanisms for Ca2+ homeostasis in general and the structure, function and

regulation of the inositol 1, 4, 5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R), a central player in the initiation and propagation of intracellular Ca2+ signals, in particular. More recently, he

focused on the role of the IP3R in conjunction with other Ca2+-transporting proteins of the endoplasmic reticulum, the mitochondria and the lysosomes in cell survival and

cell death, and especially in the processes of apoptosis and autophagy. Since 2010 he is Secretary-General of the European Calcium Society (ECS) and was organizer

or co-organizer of multiple international workshops (2013) and meetings (2008, 2014, and 2016) of the ECS.