Christa Maes is Professor at KU Leuven, Belgium, and Group leader of the Laboratory of Skeletal Cell Biology and Physiology (SCEBP Lab,  https://bit.ly/2TUXygz), integrated in the Skeletal Biology and Engineering Research Center at the Department of Development and Regeneration.

Her research is directed at the molecular and genetic control of bone cell functioning, with a special focus on osteogenic skeletal stem/progenitor cells (SSPCs) and their interplay with the local vasculature in bone growth, homeostasis, and repair. Much of this research is directed at understanding the mechanisms underlying the compromized bone homeostasis and regeneration in obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis and ageing. In addition to these bone-centered functions, the SCEBP team also studies the broader impact of osteolineage cells in the organism, particularly in processes as hematopoiesis and the regulation of systemic energy metabolism and glucose homeostasis. Their prime working models are genetically modified mice, including in vivo lineage tracing approaches, high-resolution microscopy, and molecular methods.

Christa Maes was trained at KU Leuven (Belgium), University of Virginia (USA), and in the Endocrine Unit of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School (Harvard University, Boston, USA). She subsequently set up her independent lab at KU Leuven with support from a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant. During her career she received several awards, including the Iain T Boyle Career Award of the European Calcified Tissue Society (ECTS).

Christa is an active contributor to the bone-focused research community and served as IBMS Young Investigator Committee Co-Chair, ASBMR Membership and Education Committee member, Associate Editor for the JBMR, and Section Editor for the ASBMR Primer. She was one of the lead organizers of the 4 preceding Herbert Fleisch workshops, interactive GRC-style workshops dedicated to junior researchers that have been held in Bruges, Belgium (2014-2022). She also served as the Basic/Translational Science Program Co-Chair for the 2020 ECTS meeting and as the Basic Science Chair for the 2022 ASBMR Program.