CMET

Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology

Prof. dr. ir. Tom Van de Wiele

Heads the Host-Microbe Interaction group at CMET.

Tom Van de Wiele obtained an MSc degree in Bioscience Engineering from Ghent University in 2000 and a PhD degree in Applied Biological Sciences with Willy Verstraete – Ghent University – and Steven Siciliano – University of Saskatchewan – as supervisors. The FWO Flemish Science Foundation provided a postdoc fellowship and he started research work at LabMET (Laboratory Microbial Ecology and Technology) on host-microbe interactions with particular focus on microbial metabolic potency towards a.o. alimentary pollutants and plant bioactives. He was a visiting scientist at Ohio State University and worked together with dr. Nick Basta (OSU), dr. Jack Creed (EPA) and dr. Karen Bradham (EPA) on arsenic metabolism by human gut microbiota. In 2010, he became assistant professor at Ghent University where he started the Host-Microbe Interaction Technology research group, developing mucosal in vitro technology. He was tenured in 2015 and currently holds a position as associate professor at the Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology from the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University. 

Research focus

Tom’s primary research interests deal with the study of the intestinal microbiota, its metabolic potency, the interactions with the host and the development of methods to steer the gut microbiome in a health-promoting direction. Besides the microbial analysis of the gastrointestinal environment from animal models or human intervention trials, his group has broad expertise in the in vitro simulation of gastrointestinal digestive processes and mucosal microenvironment. Using dynamic human gut models, such as the Simulator of the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem SHIME®, a wide variety of candidate drugs, functional foods and/or dietary factors can be screened for their direct effect on human-derived intestinal microbiota.

In addition, SHIME reactor technology is now expanded with mucosal contact surfaces (M-SHIME) and epithelial cell cultures (Host Microbe Interaction module), which allows for the study of microbe-host interactions, highly relevant in the field of inflammatory bowel disease. Our research team has produced a scientific output of more than 160 peer-reviewed international publications and the participation as invited speaker in several international conferences.

Selected key publications

  • Chassaing B, Van de WIele T, De Bodt J, Marzorati M, Gewirtz AT. 2017. Dietary emulsifiers directly alter human microbiota composition and gene expression ex vivo potentiating intestinal inflammation. Gut. 10.1136/gutjnl- 2016-313099
  • De Weirdt R, Hernandez-Sanabria E, Fievez V , Mees E, Geirnaert A, Van Herreweghen F, Vilchez-Vargas R, Van den Abbeele P, Jauregui R, Pieper DH, Vlaeminck B, Van de Wiele T. 2017. Mucosa-associated biohydrogenating microbes protect the simulated colon microbiome from stress associated with high concentrations of poly-unsaturated fat. Environmental Microbiology. 19: 722-739
  • Van de Wiele T, Van Praet J, Marzorati M, Drennan M, Elewaut D. 2016. How the microbiota shapes rheumatic disease. Nature Reviews Rheumatology 12: 398-411
  • Rubin S, Alava P, Zekker I, Du Laing G, Van de Wiele T. 2014. Arsenic Thiolation and the Role of Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria from the Human Intestinal Tract. Environ. Health Perspect. 122:817-822, 2014.
  • Van den Abbeele P., Belzer C., Goossens M., Kleerebezem M., De Vos W., Thas O., De Weirdt R., Kerckhof F.M., Van de Wiele T. 2013. Butyrate-producing Clostridium cluster XIVa species specifically colonise mucins in an in vitro gut model. The ISME Journal 7:949-961.
  • van Duynhoven J, Vaughan E, Jacobs D, Kemperman R, van Velzen E, Gross G, Roger L, Possemiers S, Smilde A, Dore J, Westerhuis J, Van de Wiele T. 2011. The metabolic fate of polyphenols in the human superorganism. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United State of America. 108: S 4531-4538.
  • Van de Wiele T, Gallawa C, Creed J, Kubachka K, Basta N, Dayton E, Whitacre S, Du Laing G, Bradham K. 2010. Arsenic Metabolism by Human Gut Microbiota upon In Vitro Digestion of Contaminated Soils. Environmental Health Perspectives. 118: 1004-1009
  • Cani PD, Possemiers S, Van de Wiele T, Guiot Y, Everard A, Rottier O, Geurts L, Naslain D, Neyrinck A, Lambert DM, Muccioli GG, Delzenne NM. 2009. Changes in gut microbiota control inflammation in obese mice through a mechanism involving GLP-2-driven improvement of gut permeability. Gut. 58: 1091-1103