The human gut microbiome in health and disease
Dr. Sara Vieira-Silva (Laboratory of Molecular Bacteriology (Rega Institute), KU Leuven, Belgium)

Sara Vieira-Silva's main research interests are the boundaries of the healthy human gut microbiota variation and the role of dysbiosis in disease, especially through the promotion of inflammation and production/degradation of bioactive compounds. She combines her background in microbial comparative genomics and evolutionary ecology, with hypothesis-driven experimental design. In close collaboration with clinical experts, she approaches quantitatively the contribution of host-associated microbial communities to pathophysiology, notably in the clinical context of inflammatory, metabolic and neuropsychiatric disorders.