Lead by Joffrey van Prehn, Liz Terveer and Georg Zeller

Microbiome & Health

The human microbiome is a complex ecosystem of microorganisms that colonise and interact with our body. The focus of this cluster is to assess how the microbiome determines health and disease.

We study the factors that shape the microbiome, the functional potential and metabolism of the microbiome, host-microbiome interactions, and the effect of microbiota interventions. The cluster brings together a variety of researchers: clinical specialist, microbiologist, immunologists, and computational researchers. Studies include development and validation of bioinformatic and statistical analysis tools; multi-omics analysis of well-defined cohorts and randomized studies; large-scale cross-study comparisons (meta-analyses); and finally, intervention studies in volunteers (colonization studies) and patients using prebiotics, live biotherapeutic products and fecal microbiota transplantation. Our mission is to unravel the interplay between the microbiome and human health, and use this understanding to improve health, minimize disease and optimize treatment success.