Associate Professor
Dr. W.K. (Wiep Klaas) Smits
Area(s) of expertise:
Molecular Microbiology, Microbiome research
Molecular Microbiology, Microbiome research
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Introduction
I studied Biology at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Groningen (Groningen, The Netherlands). During my PhD at the same institute I studied bacterial gene regulation in Bacillus subtilis in the laboratory of prof. O.P. Kuipers.
Following my PhD I performed postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge MA, USA) under the guidance of prof. A.D. Grossman. Here, I studied DNA replication of Bacillus subtilis using biochemical and omics techniques.
After my postdoctoral research, I joined the Leiden University Medical Center, in the group of Prof. E.J. Kuijper. Here, I developed my own line of research focusing on the Gram-positive enteropathogen Clostridioides difficile.
Currently, I head the research group Experimental Bacteriology and the Center of Microbiome Analyses and Therapeutics.
I am a member of the steering committee of the International Conference on the Molecular Biology and Pathogenesis of Clostridia.
Following my PhD I performed postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge MA, USA) under the guidance of prof. A.D. Grossman. Here, I studied DNA replication of Bacillus subtilis using biochemical and omics techniques.
After my postdoctoral research, I joined the Leiden University Medical Center, in the group of Prof. E.J. Kuijper. Here, I developed my own line of research focusing on the Gram-positive enteropathogen Clostridioides difficile.
Currently, I head the research group Experimental Bacteriology and the Center of Microbiome Analyses and Therapeutics.
I am a member of the steering committee of the International Conference on the Molecular Biology and Pathogenesis of Clostridia.
Scientific research
My research focuses on pathogenic bacteria, in particular Clostridioides difficile and Staphylococcus aureus. I am also interested exploring the use of live biotherapeutic products, including anaerobic bacteria, as possible interventions. I am closely involved with the Dutch National Expertise Center for C. difficile infections, a collaboration between the LUMC and the Center of Infectious Disease Control of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment.
Within the Center for Microbiota Analyses and Therapeutics (CMAT), we study aspects of the complex role of the microbiota in health and disease.
Our work is highly cross-disciplinary (genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry) and increasingly involves translational including human colonization and infection models of bacterial infectious diseases.
My research is supported by for instance grants from the EU, the Dutch Research Council (NWO), Health~Holland, ESCMID, and Leiden University Fund.
Within the Center for Microbiota Analyses and Therapeutics (CMAT), we study aspects of the complex role of the microbiota in health and disease.
Our work is highly cross-disciplinary (genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry) and increasingly involves translational including human colonization and infection models of bacterial infectious diseases.
My research is supported by for instance grants from the EU, the Dutch Research Council (NWO), Health~Holland, ESCMID, and Leiden University Fund.
