Personal presentation
My name is Fran莽oise Smets. I live in Brussels, where I was born 50 years ago. I am married with three children. I am a full clinical professor at UCLouvain and dean of its Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. I am also a doctor of medicine, a doctor of medical sciences, a paediatrician, and the clinical head of the Paediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology Department of the Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc.
Teaching
As a full clinical professor, I teach students in the health sector. At the Haute Ecole Vinci, I have taught nurses and dieticians. Active learning and the use of new technologies when justified by the subject matter are of paramount importance to me, as is the annual updating of my lectures and examination questions. I also take great pride in actively participating in various dedicated meetings and in the supervision and training of paediatric assistants and trainees. Finally, I am a member of the portfolio and clinical research dissertation committees.
Research
I was awarded an FNRS fellowship in 1998 and defended my PhD thesis in 2002 under the supervision of Professor Etienne Sokal. I completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Northwestern University and Children鈥檚 Memorial Hospital in Chicago, supported by a grant from the Belgian American Educational Foundation. I continue my research in the Paediatric Hepatology and Cellular Therapy Laboratory at the UCLouvain Institute of Experimental and Clinical Research. I am an associate member of the Belgian Royal Academy of Medicine.
Institutional and service functions
I am dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry (since 2019) and a member of the Academic Council. I have chaired the Master鈥檚 Examination Board and served as vice-dean for internships. I am chair of the UCLouvain Health Centre Board of Directors, and a member of the boards of directors of the University Centre for General Medicine, La毛nnec Medical Centre, and the journal Louvain M茅dical. I am also a member of the Working Group on Academic Regulations and Procedures and of the Steering Committee of the Working Group on the Promotion of UCLouvain Courses. Outside UCLouvain, I am a member of several scientific societies and have held many positions of responsibility within them.
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