Verhasselt lab

Prof. Dr. Bruno Verhasselt

Tel: +32 9 332 22 26
Email: Bruno.Verhasselt@UGent.be

Research topic

To investigate clinical implication of gut microbiota, the Laboratory for Medical Microbiology at Ghent University Hospital headed by Prof. Bruno Verhasselt developed a diagnostic NGS-based workflow to analyze the microbiome, and initiated clinical studies to intervene in microbiota composition by fecal microbiota transfer (FMT). The Ghent Stool Bank (GSB) was established to provide regional, ready-to-use and high quality donor feces product for the increasing number of FMT procedures at UZ Ghent and cooperating hospitals.
The research focus is on weakened and/or immunosuppressed patients, such as patients with a long-term multi-drug-resistant-organism colonization. This growing group of patients is often subjected to long time isolation because of lack of treatment. We intent to decolonize these patients with donor microbiota and achieve new insights by means of microbiome analysis and typing of patient and donor material.

Areas of expertise

  • Biobanking of donor stool samples and derived products (Ghent Stool Bank)
  • Decolonization of gram-negative multi-resistant organisms with donor microbiota
  • Fecal microbiota transfer by means of oral administration

Selected publications

  1. Holvoet et al. Assessment of faecal microbial transfer in irritable bowel syndrome with severe bloating
    Gut. 2017 May;66(5):980-982.

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