Ellen Goossens

Ellen Goossens is a Belgian biomedical scientist who is a professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel specialising in male fertility preservation. Her work focuses on cryopreservation, transplantation, and in vitro differentiation of spermatogonial stem cells. She was awarded the 2011 Prize of the Royal Belgian Academy for Medicine and the 2026 Liebaers–Van Steirteghem Prize.

Early life and education Goossens graduated in biomedical sciences from the Vrije Universiteit Brussels in 2000. She trained in male fertility preservation under the supervision of Herman Tournaye, and obtained her doctoral degree in 2006. Tournaye encouraged her to pursue research ideas with clinical applications. Goossens continued her postdoctoral training at the same laboratory and was appointed lab coordinator in 2012. Goossens is affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. She was appointed assistant professor in 2011 and promoted to full professor in 2016. Following preclinical studies, ethical approval was granted for clinical investigations into the autologous transplantation of previously cryopreserved testicular tissue. In 2023, an adult patient underwent transplantation of autologous testicular tissue. In 2026, a patient underwent autologous transplantation of previously cryopreserved testicular tissue that had been collected during childhood prior to chemotherapy. The patient, who had undergone chemotherapy for sickle cell disease during childhood, had experienced treatment-related impairment of spermatogenesis. Following transplantation, the patient produced sperm cells. 2026 Liebaers–Van Steirteghem Prize

Selected publications