Team

We are an interdisciplinary research team dedicated to exploring the complexities of microbial interactions and their significant impact on the well-being of the holomicrobiome, all while upholding scientific integrity and fairness. For previous members, see also Alumni

Sahar El Aidy, Chair of Microbiome Engineering. Sahar's academic journey spans multiple continents. Her current research aims to fundamentally understand how gut bacteria adapt to the dynamic gut environment, on various scales.

Marines du Teil, Lab manager.
She has a technical background in microbiology and biochemistry. Her expertise includes developing cell-based analytical methods, optimizing ligand binding assays, and managing cell culture and molecular biology laboratories.

Liam Jones, Postdoc. His expertise includes biochemistry, microbiology, and engineering. He developed a model system to study biofilm communities in microbiologically influenced corrosion, focusing on sulfate-reducing and iron-reducing bacteria.

Diana Ilyaskina, Postdoc. Her background includes biochemistry and molecular biology, analytical chemistry and environmental toxicology. She focuses on exploring the impact of the current agricultural practises in gut microbiome responses.

Safaa Altves, Postdoc. She has a medical microbiology training. She aims to explore the interactions between the gut microbiome and host factors in neurodegenerative conditions and uncover potential therapeutic targets by investigating these complex relationships.

Markus Schwalbe, PhD candidate. His research investigates the interplay between prebiotics, including Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs), the infant gut microbiome, and its host through bacteria-produced metabolites, aiming to understand their impact on gastrointestinal integrity and motility.

Johanna Böttcher, PhD candidate. She focuses on identifying key microbes involved in a specific metabolic process, elucidating their functional roles, and examining their implications for human health, particularly in conditions like inflammatory bowel disease.

Mink Sieders, PhD candidate.
He focuses on developing microfluidics-based systems to investigate interactions within the gut microbiome. He aims to study the evolutionary adaptations of specific bacteria in the dynamic gut environment, particularly under altered conditions in Parkinson’s disease patients.

Esmée Grundeken, PhD candidate. She is researching the intricate relationship between the microbiome and the gut in the context of Parkinson’s disease. She aims to develop tools to investigate how specific bacterial isolates interact with the intestinal mucosa.

Tetyana Pryshchepova, Research assistant. She is assisting with the Parkinson's projects.

Mi Nguyen, MSc student. She is studying Biomedical Sciences. Currently she is doing her research training together with Markus Schwalbe.

Erik Voitus van Hamme, BSc student. He is studying Psycobiology. Currently he is doing his research training together with Liam Jones.

Lotte Summerfield, BSc student. She is studying Psycobiology. Currently she is doing her research training together with Johanna Böttcher.

Mischa Radt, BSc student. He is studying Psycobiology. Currently he is doing his research training together with Diana Ilyaskina.

Qiaochu Zhang,MSc student. She is studying Marine and Fresh water Biology and will start her internship in March with Liam Jones.

Jane van der Pal, BSc student. She is studying Biology. She will start her research training in April together with Mink Sieders.