Rate My Professor Karolien Dewaelen

Karolien De Wael is a full professor and chairwoman of the Department of Bioscience Engineering at the University of Antwerp since 2021. She earned her Master’s degree in Chemistry from Ghent University in 2001 with greatest distinction and her PhD in Chemistry from the same institution in 2005 as an FWO fellow. Her doctoral thesis focused on the electrochemical study of a gold electrode modified by the immobilization of transition metal ion phthalocyanines and porphyrins for catalytic applications. After her PhD, she served as an FWO postdoctoral fellow at Ghent University from 2005 to 2011. In 2011, she joined the University of Antwerp as a tenure track research professor in analytical chemistry, advancing to research lecturer until 2016, research senior lecturer from 2016 to 2017, research professor from 2018 to 2019, and full professor since 2020. She is also the spokesperson for the A-Sense Lab (Antwerp Electrochemical and Analytical Sciences Lab) and leads the A-PECS (Antwerp Engineering, Photoelectrochemistry & Sensing) research group. De Wael was elected as a member of the Young Academy of Belgium from 2014 to 2019 and received the KVCV prize in 2001 as the best chemistry student. She has earned research group poster prizes at international conferences, including the EOS prize and BiR&D award.

Her research encompasses photo-electrocatalysis, (bio)sensor development, electrochemical sensors, fundamental electrochemical studies, organic electrochemistry, bio-electrochemistry, and analytical characterization of inorganic air pollutants. Key projects under her leadership include the EU RIA BorderSens consortium for detecting illicit drugs and precursors at borders, involving 16 partners from eight EU countries; MicroMut for microneedle-based detection of breast cancer mutations; BIOPHOTOSENS for parasite infection detection; and SOCAN for singlet oxygen-based photoelectrochemical platforms for cancer biomarkers. She coordinates application-oriented research in health, food, and environmental sectors, with valorization through sensor platforms for drug screening. De Wael has authored over 200 international peer-reviewed articles, achieving an H-index of 36 and more than 9,000 citations on Google Scholar. Notable publications include 'Aptasensing of chloramphenicol in the presence of its analogues: reaching the maximum residue limit' (Analytical Chemistry, 2012), 'Electrochemical determination of hydrogen peroxide using Rhodobacter capsulatus cytochrome c peroxidase at a gold electrode' (Microchimica Acta, 2008), and 'A new photoelectrochemical singlet oxygen-based detection platform for cancer biomarkers' (ongoing project). She teaches Analytical Chemistry, Chemistry II, and Modern Electrochemical Analysis in the Faculty of Science. De Wael organizes the SMOBE meetings and the BES2022 symposium in Antwerp.