Pioneering the Analysis and Integration of Meta-Omics Datasets with Environmental, Clinical, Host Omics and Dietary Data

Jeroen Raes is full professor at KU Leuven since 2013 and VIB group leader since 2009. His group currently consists of thirty scientists with expertise in bioinformatics, systems biology, clinical research and microbiology. He has a substantial track record in microbiome research and has been pioneering the analysis and integration of meta-omics datasets (metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, metaproteomics, meta-metabolomics) with environmental, clinical, host omics and dietary data.

He was involved in the FP7 MetaHIT and NIH Human Microbiome Project (the latter as sole European partner), which laid the foundations for the human microbiome field as we know it today. Finally, his lab performs a wide range of disease-related projects in IBD, diabetes, cancer, IBS and depression, amongst others, and develops novel approaches and tools for microbiome research.

Raes also coordinates the Flemish Gut Flora project, a large-scale microbiome focused population cohort. He has received multiple awards and recognitions, and his 2011 paper in Nature was selected by Science as one of the “top 10 breakthroughs of the year.”