Erik Storkebaum studied pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Leuven, Belgium (1995-2000, magna cum laude). For his PhD thesis (2000-2005, promoter Peter Carmeliet, VIB & University of Leuven), he used mouse genetic approaches to study the role and therapeutic potential of VEGF for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). During his postdoc in Patrick Callaerts' lab (VIB Leuven) he used Drosophila as a genetic model for motor neurodegenerative diseases. His first independent lab was a ‘Max Planck Research Group’ at the MPI for Molecular Biomedicine (Münster, Germany, 2010-2018). In 2017, he moved to the Donders Institute and Radboud University in Nijmegen (Netherlands). His lab combines Drosophila and mouse genetics to unravel molecular mechanisms underlying motor neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases. Thus far, his research focussed on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) caused by FUS mutations (FUS-ALS) and Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) peripheral neuropathy caused by mutations in cytoplasmic aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs). More recently, he performed an unbiased, forward genetic screen in Drosophila to comprehensively study the molecular pathogenesis of axonal degeneration and possible links to human neurological diseases.