Pamela;

At the moment we are preparing several clinical studies that will look at the effects of probiotics on physical and psychological wellbeing. One of the studies focuses on the effects of probiotics in reducing anxiety and depression in pregnant women. Another study will investigate the role of probiotics in improving quality of life in patients with chronic bowel disease.

In addition, together with my supervisor, I am writing a handbook on microbiota in children, developed for pediatricians, gynecologists, nutritionists, microbiologists and (medical) students. For this, we collaborate  with a large number of international researchers and we establish the development of the microbiota in children aged 0-2 years. In addition, we describe how an aberrant composition of gut bacteria relate to common children's diseases that occur in the age of 0-12 years. We expect that this book will be available mid-2017 as a reference for physicians and researchers.  

The past decades we have learned a lot about the microbiota and how these trillions of bacteria play a role in health and disease. The exciting news here is: we are not there yet. Every day new interactions and relationships are discovered. That makes it a dynamic research field. I hope that the insights from my research ultimately will lead to improving the health of children and adults.