Profile

Dr. Pieter-Jan Verhelst is an Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Resident at the University Hospitals of Leuven (Belgium) with a special interest in orthognathic, craniofacial and cleft surgery. In 2017 he obtained his medical degree (KU Leuven, magna cum laude) with a thesis on the free fibula flap in craniomaxillofacial reconstructions and in 2020 he obtained his dental medicine degree (KU Leuven, magna cum laude) with a thesis on 3D volumetric analysis of the jaw joint. He was trained at the University Hospitals of Leuven (Belgium) and the Rijnstate Hospital Arnhem (Netherlands). He is part of the Cleft Lip and Palate Team at the University Hospitals of Leuven. Dr. Verhelst is a PhD candidate within the OMFS-IMPATH research group at KU Leuven, supervised by Prof. Dr. Reinhilde Jacobs, Prof. Dr. Constantinus Politis and Prof. Dr. Hilde Peeters.  His research focuses on orthognathic, craniofacial and cleft surgery, condylar resorption, 3D craniofacial phenotyping and associated genetic abnormalities.