Kevin Verstrepen is professor in Genetics and Genomics at Leuven University, Group Leader in Systems Biology at VIB, co-director of the Leuven Institute for Beer Research and Honorary Professor at Nottingham University.

Verstrepen studied biological engineering at the Leuven University (KU Leuven) in Belgium. For his MSc thesis, Verstrepen joined Isak Pretorius’ group at Stellenbosch University in South Africa where he studied the genetics of yeast flocculation. His doctoral research at Leuven University was aimed at characterizing yeast genes involved in flavor formation during fermentation. After obtaining his PhD, Verstrepen joined the lab of genetics pioneer Gerald Fink at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, USA. Revisiting the topic of his MSc thesis, Verstrepen discovered that the genes responsible for yeast flocculation contain arrays of highly unstable repeats in their DNA sequence.

After spending two years at MIT, Verstrepen joined Harvard University as a Harvard Fellow and group leader. In 2006, he became lecturer and started teaching industrial microbiology to Harvard undergraduate students. Meanwhile, Verstrepen headed a research team dedicated to studying fundamental genetics using yeast cells as a model system. More specifically, building on the previous work, Verstrepen's team unraveled molecular mechanisms underlying rapid evolution and adaptation, yielding several high-profile papers in journals like Science, Cell, PLoS Biology and PNAS.

In 2009, Verstrepen returned to Belgium where his team continues to investigate eukaryotic genetics and epigenetics using brewer's yeast as a model system. In addition, the team is now also focusing on applications in the fermentation industry. In 2012, Verstrepen became managing director of the newly established Leuven Institute for Beer Research (LIBR), a joint research center that unites different research teams at the university and two associated professional colleges. Verstrepen was awarded highly competitive grants from the ERC (starting grant in 2009, consolidator grant in 2016), Human Frontier Science Program (in 2007 and in 2014). He also received an EMBO YIP fellowship and won several awards, including Harvard’s Derek Bok award for best teacher, the Golden Chalk award for best teacher in bio-engineering at KU Leuven, and the triennial Leo Errera Award for general biology Research of the Belgian Academy for Arts and Sciences. In 2013, he received an honorary professorship from Nottingham University.

He actively guides his students’ careers by providing career mentoring and encouraging them to take classes in leadership, people management, presentation & writing. Verstrepen supports their careers by promoting them with colleagues and stimulating them to take their ideas with them when they establish a team. Five (out of 8) ex-postdocs are now successful professors/PIs/Research Directors at renowned institutes like Harvard, CNRS, Zhejiang U. (top 5 in China), CIAT, & Oberlin College. Former PhD students are now postdocs in EMBL/CRG, TU Munich, DTU; or took key positions in industry; while one PhD student founded a company.