De Henauw lab
Research topic
The research group ‘Nutrition and Food Safety’ is one of the divisions within the Department of Public Health at Ghent University (http://www.publichealth.ugent.be/index.cfm/research/units/nutrition-and-food-safety/). Research is in most instances population based research, cross-sectional or longitudinal and sometimes interventional, and this across the life span (young children, adolescents, adults and elderly) and in different physiological conditions (e.g. pregnant women). As the overall finality is focusing on diet (nutrients, foods, dietary patterns, hedonistic eating) and public health, the main targets and endpoints are diet related disorders and morbidity like obesity, cardiovascular disease, bone health, cognitive function, psychological well-being, etc. Hence, it also includes research into potentially mediating factors and processes like inflammation, gut microbiome, telomere research and metabolomic profiles. In addition, we have a strong methodological goal including dietary assessment methodology (e.g. questionnaire development), measurement of body composition (e.g. the use of BodPod device), new statistical methods for diet and health associations, probabilistic techniques for exposure assessment and biological stress measures.
Areas of expertise
- Nutrition-related population based research
- Bio-banking of blood/stool/saliva/hair
- Nutrition-related physiology and biomarkers like appetite hormones and inflammation
- Bio-active nutrients like polyphenols, fibers, fatty acids, tryptophan,…
- Gut-brain axis
- Stress physiology
- Gut microbiome
