Jeff Leach

Talk to me about… your research

I am the founder of the Human Food Project and co-founder of American Gut. I am currently a Visiting research Fellow at King's College-London. My main research focus is the microbiome of rural and hunter-gatherers in East Africa.

Talk to me about…something people may not know about you

When not bouncing around Africa I spend time in the Chihuahuan Desert where stop lights and traffic are replaced by stunning sunrises and sunsets.

David Crean

Michelle Booden

Prof. Nathan A. Margavey

Olaf Larsen

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I studied chemistry at the VU University Amsterdam, where I progressed to obtain a PhD in biophysics from the same university.

Following my postdoctoral research in New York City and Amsterdam, I began my career within the industry. I worked for both ASML, and TNO, and as a life sciences consultant within various organizations.

Since 2012, I've headed the science department at Yakult Nederland, and since 2016, I have been a part time assistant professor at the VU University.

My research focuses on the valorization of microbiota management as well as mathematical simulations of the gut microbiota.

Dr. Jo Handelsman

Dr. Ulrich Thienel

Dr. Greg Gloor

Dr Gemma Owens

Gemma Owens is a clinical research fellow and registrar in obstetrics and gynaecology with a specialist interest in gynaecological cancers. She attended Medical School at Queen’s University (Belfast), and completed an Academic Clinical Fellowship at St Mary’s Hospital, Manchester. She has recently completed a PhD at the University of Manchester, where she worked with Professor Robert Hawkins, Professor Richard Edmondson and Dr David Gilham. Her PhD focused on adoptive immunotherapy strategies for epithelial ovarian cancer, working on both TIL and CAR-T cell approaches. In collaboration with Oxford Biomedica, Gemma has demonstrated that 5T4 is an attractive target for CAR-T cell therapy in ovarian cancer.