Neurobiologist, research director at Inserm (French National Institute of Health and Medical Research) with an international career. Scientific Director of the Brain Institute and Head of the Brain Development Team. After obtaining his PhD in molecular genetics at the Ohio State University, he did his post-doctoral work at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. In late 2001, he was recruited by the VIB and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Leuven in Belgium to set up the country’s first Drosophila laboratory. Bassem Hassan worked at the VIB and the University of Leuven as a group leader and professor until the end of 2015. He joined the Brain Institute in 2016 and became its Scientific Director in 2018. Bassem Hassan has received numerous awards, including the Allen Distinguished Investigator Award in 2016 and the Roger De Spoelberch Prize in 2019. The Brain Development team, led by Bassem Hassan, focuses on the formation of neurons and neural networks during brain development using Drosophila fly and mouse models.