Members

Sarah did a master in Bioscience Engineering: cell and gene technology (major) and food & health (minor) at KU Leuven and graduated in 2004. She then did her PhD research at the Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics of the KU Leuven under the supervision of Prof. Jos Vanderleyden and Dr. Sigrid De Keersmaecker. Since her master thesis, she has been studying probiotic bacteria, with Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) as model probiotic strain. In her PhD research from 2004-2008, she has mainly explored molecular adaptation and probiotic factors for the application against inflammatory bowel diseases. In her postdoc research, she has first worked on protein glycosylation in lactobacilli and then switched to vaginal lactobacilli and mucosal immunology. Thanks to a joint research project (Centre of Excellence) with Prof. J. Balzarini and Prof. D. Schols from REGA at KU Leuven, she became interested in how vaginal lactobacilli could inhibit viral pathogens such as HIV and HSV. In 2011, she started as a research professor at the University of Antwerp, within the Department of Bioscience Engineering and Faculty of Science. She is responsible for the educational line on cell- and gene biotechnology within bioscience engineering. In 2012, she started the Laboratory of Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology in the research group ENdEMIC (Environmental Ecology and Applied Microbiology) of Prof. R. Samson. Her main research interests are still probiotic bacteria and their molecular modes of action, but now especially probiotic applications outside the human gut, including animals and the plant phyllosphere. Since 2016, she is an academic board member of the International Scientific Association on Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP). In 2019, she was awarded an ERC starting grant to explore the beneficial potential of lactobacilli (Lacto-Be, grant agreement ID: 852600). She is very grateful to ERC that she could extent the eligibility period with 1.5 year per child. This grant is game-changing: it is the first fundamental research grant in the group to explore the ecology, evolutionary history and core mechanisms behind the beneficial potential of lactobacilli. 

Ines is trained as a biomedical laboratory technologist (Artesis Plantijn University College Antwerp, Belgium). After a first position at the Dendritic Cell Bank of the Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Therapy at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium), Ines found her spot at the LebeerLab since 2015. Currently, Ines leads the wet lab experiments in different service research projects in collaboration with several industrial partners, and supports the experimental research of the Ph.D. students and postdocs of the LebeerLab. She coordinates the Illumina MiSeq external services, starting from the wet lab preparations to the sample loading. Together with her fellow lab technician Leen, she runs the lab’s administration, logistics, and stock management.

Nele started at the LebeerLab as an internship student on the Isala project. During this internship, she studied the vaginal microbiome under the main supervision of Sarah Ahannach and Ines Tuyaerts. In the summer of 2020, she graduated as pharmaceutical and biological laboratory technician at the UCLL (Leuven, Belgium). In that same summer, she helped with the assembly of kits and wetlab for Isala as a job student. In October 2020, she started officially as a fully employed lab technician, still assisting in the Isala project, but now also in many other academic and industrial projects. Together with the other lab technicians, Leen and Ines, she is also responsible for the maintenance of the lab and lab equipment. Her main technical expertise is microbial growth experiments, microbiome sequencing and cell culture.

Sarah finished a Master in Forensic Biomedical Sciences at the KU Leuven (Belgium), after which she started her Ph.D. at the LebeerLab in October, 2018. Her research mainly focuses on women’s health and safety. She studies the stability and dynamics of the female microbiome (vagina, skin, and saliva) in Flanders. In addition, she focuses on isolation and characterisation of beneficial vaginal lactobacilli for probiotic purposes. Finally, Sarah is interested in the application of the microbiome in forensic cases through microbial fingerprinting and classification models. She hopes her research contributes to improving women’s health through microbial management and cutting-edge microbiome analyses.

Eline graduated as a Master in Bioscience Engineering with a specialization in Cell and Genebiotechnology at the KU Leuven (Belgium). She started her Ph.D. at the LebeerLab in 2019 after doing her master’s thesis here. She studies the potential and molecular mechanisms of beneficial lactic acid bacteria in mucosal disorders. The improper use of antibiotic treatments is a leading cause for the selection of multidrug resistant bacteria, which in turn can have an effect on the outcome of many diseases. Within her Ph.D. research, Eline will develop topical probiotic formulations for the treatment of cystic fibrosis patients as an alternative for antibiotics. 

Sandra performed her MSc thesis at the Belgian Universities of Brussels, Leuven, and Antwerp, studying the role of putative lectines from Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG and their potential role in pathogen exclusion. Afterwards, she started a Ph.D. within the framework of the MELiSSA project (Micro-Ecological Life Support System – European Space Agency) in collaboration with the University of Mons (Belgium) and the Belgian Nuclear Research Center (SCK-CEN). She investigated the quorum sensing system of Rhodospirillum rubrum S1H, a bacterium colonizing the second compartment of the MELiSSA loop. After her promotion in 2016, Sandra joined the LebeerLab in 2018 as a postdoctoral researcher. Her main expertise relies on genetic engineering and probiotics research. Currently, Sandra is developing projects for capacity building on probiotics and microbiome research in Peru.

Lize has completed her Marster in Bioscience Engineering with specialization in Cell and Gene Technology at the KU Leuven (Belgium) in 2018. She started her Ph.D. at the LebeerLab in 2019 and studies the skin microbiome and the potential of topically applied lactobacilli for the treatment of chronic inflammatory skin disorders. The main focus of her research is to find and test a topical probiotic for atopic dermatitis. Among all medical specialties, dermatologists prescribe long-term antibiotic treatments the most. Alternatives for antibiotic treatments in dermatology are therefore highly needed and will contribute to the fight against multidrug-resistant bacteria. 

Thies joined the LebeerLab as a PostDoc in February 2021. With a Bachelor in computer science at the Heriot Watt University in Scotland, and a Master’s and PhD in bioinformatics (from the TU Delft in The Netherlands), he has a computational background. Previously, he has worked on far flung themes from machine learning, the genetics, epigenetics and transcriptomics in mushroom formation, to the (inherited) genomic factors influencing longevity and the metabolomic and transcriptomic effects of metabolism in healthy ageing. In the LebeerLab, he is working on the ERC Lacto-BE project, investigating the role of lactobacilli across human, fermentative and artificial niches. Notably on the vaginal microbiome within the Isala study.

Wenke started her research by looking for airborne bacteria degrading pollutants in city air. This soon shifted to the research of the bacterial communities on the leaf surfaces in the city (as they are quite different from those in nature). As a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Berkeley, in the labs of Prof. B. Koskella & Prof. S. Lindow, Wenke focused her research more on the fundamental ecology of the leaf communities, which is essential to understand how to shift microbiomes into a healthier state. Now she’s continuing this work in the LebeerLab hoping to one day harness leaf bacteria to benefit both plants and people in urban environments.

Dieter obtained a Master in Bioscience Engineering with a specialization in Cell and Gene Biotechnology at the University of Leuven (Belgium) in 2010. That year he started a Ph.D. at the Laboratory of Gene Technology (KU Leuven) under the guidance of Prof. Rob Lavigne, and the Laboratory for Drug Delivery and Disposition (KU Leuven) led by Prof. Guy Van den Mooter. In this Ph.D. research he studied the processability of bacteriophages into a dry inhalable powder formulation using spray drying as an option to tackle bacterial lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients. After his promotion in 2015, he joined the LebeerLab as a postdoctoral researcher with a focus on environmental probiotics, genetic improvement of novel probiotic strains, and the pharmaceutical processing of probiotics. In 2018, Dieter received a scholarship for the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (日本学術振興会) to perform genetic research at the Institute for Biomedical Sciences of the Shinshu University (信州大学) in Japan, under the guidance of Prof. Takeshi Shimosato. Anno 2019, he returned to the LebeerLab, supporting the genetic, environmental, and pharmaceutical processing research lines.

Stijn obtained a master’s degree in bioinformatics from the KULeuven in 2016. He did a joint PhD between the Lebeer Lab and the van Noort group (KULeuven) and is now continuing his research as a postdoctoral researcher at the Lebeer Lab. Stijn studies the ecology and evolution of Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) by comparing genome sequences from public databases and in-house isolates of the lab. He develops software to gain new types of insights from these datasets, or to process them on a larger scale. He then applies these novel computational tools as well as existing tools to study how different species of LAB are related to each other, how they adapted to different lifestyles (e.g., free-living vs host-adapted) and how they interact with their viruses and other mobile genetic elements. In addition, he implements pipelines and writes software for the analysis of microbial community data generated within the lab; both for amplicon and metagenomic shotgun sequencing data. Finally, he is involved in the Isala project on the female microbiome. 

Jelle finished a MSc in Bioscience engineering with specialization in Cell and Gene technology at KU Leuven in 2019. He completed his MSc thesis at the laboratory of gene technology (LoGT) at KU Leuven (under the promotership of Prof. Joleen Masschelein and Prof. Rob Lavigne), where he investigated the biosynthetic potential of plant-associated bacteria. Due to his interest in natural product biosynthesis and human health, he started a Ph.D. in 2020 at the LebeerLab. Certain members of the Lactobacillus Genus Complex are known to produce interesting compounds which have beneficial effects on human health. During his doctorate, Jelle will study these compounds on the genetic and molecular biological level and try to uncover the underlying mechanisms behind these beneficial effects with the aim to characterize novel probiotics.

Isabel graduated as a Master in Bioscience Engineering with a major specialization in ‘Cellular and Genetic Engineering’ and minor specialization in ‘Nutrition and Health’ at the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) in 2022. She completed her Bachelor project and Master’s thesis research in the lab of Prof. Sarah Lebeer at the University of Antwerp. Soon after graduating, Isabel started her PhD research on female health and the Isala Citizen Science project at the Lebeerlab. She will focus on the vaginal microbiome constellation of the Isala participants in relation to their dietary habits. In that way, she will contribute to the exploration of the dynamic nature of the female microbiome. She hopes her research assists in improving women’s health through diet modulation and as such she wants to contribute to reach Isala’s goals and dreams.

Brianne graduated with a Master of Science in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology from the University of British Columbia where she studied bacterial siderophore production as a method to valorize lignin. During her Masters studies she cultivated an interest in applied microbiology with the goal of using microbes for good! This ultimately led her to joining the Lebeer Lab in 2024 as a PhD student. Brianne is exploring the phyllosphere of strawberry plants as part of the SynBioS project. She  aims to create a synthetic microbial community as a method to tackle disease and improve yields in strawberry plants.

Jari obtained his Master in Bioscience Engineering with specialization in Environmental technology at the University of Ghent in 2021. He conducted his master thesis at the LebeerLab as a joint thesis between the University of Ghent (Prof. G. Smagghe) and the University of Antwerp under the dedicated supervision of Marie Legein. Jari now investigates the microbiome of the phyllosphere as a potential source for biocontrol organisms in plant protection. In collaboration with the UGent, Jari explores the use of insects for the dissemination of these beneficial micro-organisms onto commercial plants and crops for their protection against harmful plant pathogens. Recently, he took up a project in the lab in which he investigates the use of beneficial micro-organisms for air quality applications. Therefore, he delves into their biodegradation potential and survival under harsh environmental conditions. He aims to use these micro-organisms to reduce the need for chemical cleaning of technical HVAC equipment. 

Joke completed her Master in Bioscience Engineering with a major specialization in Cell and Gene Technology and minor specialization in Nutrition and Health at the KU Leuven (Belgium) in 2021. She had already joined the Lebeerlab during her Bachelor and Master dissertation. She started her Ph.D. at the Lebeerlab in 2021. She studies the microbiome of the upper respiratory tract and the potential of lactic acid bacteria as potential probiotics for the URT. Within her Ph.D., she will focus on genetic engineering of beneficial streptococci and their probiotic potential as an alternative treatment for otitis media. 

In 2023, Maline obtained her master’s degree in Bioscience Engineering with a specialization in Cell and Gene Biotechnology at Ghent University. Following the completion of her master’s thesis at the LebeerLab under the guidance of Ir. Leonore Vander Donck, she commenced her Ph.D. research later that same year. Her primary focus will be on investigating the role of the vaginal microbiome in (recurrent) vulvovaginal candidiasis —a discomforting vaginal yeast infection commonly caused by Candida species. This research is part of the interuniversity FWO-SBO project DeVEnIR. Throughout her Ph.D. journey, Maline aspires to enhance the understanding of vaginal infections, contributing to improved clinical diagnostics and the advancement of therapeutic approaches.