
Laboratory of Bioinformatics and (Eco)-Systems Biology
The functioning of the human body constitutes a complex interplay of human processes and “services” rendered to us by the 1,000 trillion microbial cells we carry. Disruption of our microbiota is linked to inflammatory and neurological disease as well as cancer. Our lab studies the variation of the human microbiome in health and disease and strategies for its modulation.
Research areas
Microbiology Computational biologyResearch focus
The Raes Lab combines large-scale sequencing, cohort studies, microbiology and synthetic ecology with computational approaches to investigate the functioning and variability of the human microbiome and study its alteration and modulation in disease. Recent technological advances such as metagenomics and next-generation sequencing make it possible, for the first time, to study the various microbiota of the human body at a previously unseen scale. These advances have allowed the initiation of the International Human Microbiome Project, aiming at genomically characterizing the totality of human-associated micro-organisms (the “microbiome”).
Studying the complexity of the human ecosystem at this resolution allowed the birth of a new, exciting subfield in computational biology which will eventually allow classical, cellular-level systems biology to progress towards modeling entire communities (“ecosystems biology”) and untangling interspecies networks of competition, collaboration and communication at the molecular level.

Publications
To showcase the world-class scientific research of the Jeroen Raes Lab, you can discover their scientific papers in more detail.
Jobs
We are always on the lookout for highly motivated colleagues to join our team. If you are interested, please contact us
Team
The Jeroen Raes Lab can only thrive thanks to the dedication and commitment of its people, no matter what their function or seniority.
Events
To stay up to date in rapidly developing fields, interact with (international) colleagues. Conferences and other (scientific) events are an excellent way to facilitate such a continent-spanning knowledge exchange.
Awards/Recognitions
fwo odysseus fellow francqui chair (u antwerp) 2016-2017
Selected for Cell journal’s “40 under 40” promising young scientists