Projects
Immune profiling and the role of monocyte/macrophage populations in primary sclerosing cholangitis and related ulcerative colitis. Ghent University
Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic cholestatic liver disease frequently associated with intestinal inflammation, mainly ulcerative colitis. The etiopathogenesis has not been elucidated but compromises in the gut-liver crosstalk are suggested in which macrophages are implemented. The immunological profile and importance of monocyte-/macrophage-populations will be investigated, including the role of macrophage-Trem2, a recently ...
Lung-gut connection: mucosal immune cross-talk leading to disease in distant organs KU Leuven
Respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases are often manifested as overlapping conditions. The respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts have many similarities, which may account for some common pathological features observed in diseases affecting these two systems. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and asthma, two common disorders of the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts, respectively, are associated with increased mucosal immune activation. ...
Microbiota modulation strategies in Inflammatory Bowel Disease management KU Leuven
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), mainly Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), are chronic disorders. These disorders are proposed to be the result of an inappropriate immune response against the intestinal microbial flora in genetic susceptible hosts, although the exact pathogenesis is still unknown. CD and UC cause serious and unpredictable healthcare problems, such as rectal bleeding, persistent diarrhea and abdominal cramps ...
Characterizing the in vivo importance of OTULIN through mouse gene targeting studies Ghent University
This project will investigate the role of OTULIN in inflammatory signaling and pathology. For this I will make use of unique conditional OTULIN knockout mice in order to identify the physiological importance of OTULIN in intestinal and liver homeostasis and inflammatory pathology.
Revisiting the function and the mechanisms of action of TNF during DSS colitis in conditions of littermate-controlled normalized gut microbiota composition Ghent University
Several mouse studies suggested that TNF protects against DSS-induced colitis. While these studies did not use littermates, a preliminary littermate-controlled experiment showed that in fact TNF has a detrimental role in DSS colitis. This project will aim to re-evaluate the function of TNF in DSS colitis in order to better understand the mechanisms by which TNF affects colitis development.
Bariatric surgery and its impact on the gut flora KU Leuven
Bariatric surgery (BS) is an effective way to treat obesity. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass reduces the gastric volume and bypasses parts of the small intestine so that malabsorption is expected whereas Sleeve Gastrectomy only reduces the stomach’s volume without inducing malabsorption. However, the extent of malabsorption and its consequences for gut health are not well documented. We hypothesize that the different types of BS induce a different ...