Until recently, it was believed that only a small fraction of the genome contained relevant information, used by the cell to produce proteins. The majority was referred to as ‘junk DNA’ with no obvious function throughout life. Today, there’s ample evidence demonstrating that the majority of the genome is producing non-coding RNA (ncRNA) transcripts that can have important functions in every aspect of cell biology. My lab focuses on the study of long non-coding RNAs in cancer with the goal to expand our knowledge on lncRNA functions, gain insights in the mechanisms by which they operate and evaluate their use as therapeutic targets and cancer biomarkers. One of the most intriguing aspects of lncRNAs is their exquisite expression specificity. Through elaborate PAN-cancer omics analyses, we prioritize cancer type-specific lncRNAs as potential targets for therapy and study how they mechanistically affect cancer hallmarks in various cancer model systems. Cancer type-specific lncRNAs are not only attractive targets for therapy, they also qualify as potential biomarkers for diagnosis or treatment response monitoring. By applying state-of-the art RNA-sequencing technology, we evaluate the biomarker potential of these lncRNAs in liquid biopsies from cancer patients. To support this research, we continuously invest in the development of novel technologies (both wet- and dry-lab) and data analysis methods.