Specialization
Focus of research
I study the role of the gut microbiome in cardiovascular health. My work spans epidemiological cohort studies, a placebo-controlled dietary intervention trial, and mechanistic research aimed at establishing the gut microbiome as a quantifiable and modifiable cardiovascular risk factor.
My main project focuses on how dietary sodium shapes gut microbial communities and downstream host physiology. I am developing approaches to profile microbial salt-resistance genes in human metagenomes as functional readouts of microbiome adaptation to high-salt environments.
My work integrates shotgun metagenomics, 16S rRNA sequencing, metabolomics, and clinical data across multi-ethnic longitudinal cohorts (HELIUS cohort), including work on microbiome differences associated with urbanisation and cardiometabolic risk (RODAM cohort). I use multi-omics approaches to investigate microbiome composition, stability, diversity, and functional potential. I have developed several open-source pipelines, you can find them on my Github profile.
I am an active member of the postdoctoral research community at Amsterdam UMC. I serve on the board of the Postdoc Network Amsterdam UMC and on the science communication committee of AGEM (Amsterdam Gastroenterology Endocrinology Metabolism). I organise the Microbiota Journal Club (MBJC) at Amsterdam UMC, to bring together microbiome researchers across groups. I also co-organise scientific symposia, including a multi-omics lunch symposium for Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences.