We focus on infections of public health relevance, such as healthcare-associated infections (e.g. sepsis, device-associated infections, endocarditis and surgical site infections) caused by antibiotic resistance (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci (VRE), Carbapenem resistant microorganisms (CRE) in the hospitals as well as zoonotic diseases (STEC/EHEC) and Vector-borne-disease (Dengue) in the community.
We coordinate and participate in several large national and international as well as Dutch-German cross-border projects comprising microbiological prevalence studies, molecular population structure analysis, novel forms of network-based infection control, and host-virus/bacterium interactions using metagenomics approaches.
We collaborate within Microbes in Health&Disease (MHD) with other research groups of our department and the UMCG (e.g. ICU, imaging, orthopaedics, surgery) as well as with partners from different sectors in the (eu)region and internationally.
We participate actively in the Aletta Jacobs School of Public Health for the goal of developing novel cross-sectorial and preventive-economic approaches to maintain infections curable in the health-care community.
We want to understand the transmission dynamics, epidemic and pathogenic power of multi-resistant microorganisms (e.g. MRSA, VRE, CRE) in order to maintain our region free of life-threatening infections
We use interventional modelling and network-analysis to improve network-based infection control and the application of novel technologies (NGS, shot gun metagenomics) to develop hub&spoke infection control and diagnostic stewardship.
University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG)
Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention
P.O. Box 30.001
9700 RB Groningen
The Netherlands
Visiting address
University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG)
Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Prevention
Hanzeplein 1
9713 GZ Groningen
The Netherlands
