prof. Tom Van de Wiele (PhD)

My research group is studying host-microbe interactions and works on the development of innovative in vitro technology to mimic host mucosal surfaces. It is at the mucosal interphase that host-microbe interactions are most intense and that a mechanistic understanding of the host-microbe interplay is often lacking. Especially in the context of cancer therapy induced mucositis, the contribution of the microbiome to the etiology and aggravation of mucositis and in the restoration of mucosal barrier integrity is unknown. With its enabling technologies our group facilitates mechanistic research that may help in the diagnosis of mucositis with microbial markers and in the development of novel biostrategies to curb the severity of mucositis.
 

Tom Van de Wiele is a full professor at the Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology (CMET) from Ghent University, Belgium. For more than 2 decades, he specializes in designing and validating novel in vitro enabling technology platforms for studying host-microbe interactions. The main research emphasis is put on the gastrointestinal tract, but the Van de Wiele lab also studies microbial ecosystems from the oral cavity, skin, respiratory environment and reproductive tract. The different model systems at prof. Van de Wiele’s lab are used to conduct mode-of-action research on the dynamics and functionality of microbial ecosystems in health and disease at different body sites. This yields complementary information helping to better understand human in vivo observations and advancing the fields of Biomedicine, Nutrition and Functional Foods, Live Biotherapeutics and Drug development. Particularly with respect to oncology research, the technology platform from prof. Van de Wiele’s group can assist in elucidating the role of the microbiome in the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors, the etiology of cancer therapy-induced mucositis and the interaction with the pharmacokinetics of chemotherapeutic agents. 
Prof. Van de Wiele is a Ghent University MSc and PhD graduate in the fields of Environmental Engineering and Bioscience Engineering and he was a research scholar at the University of Saskatchewan (SK, Canada) and Ohio State University (OH, USA). He received fellowships from the FWO National Science foundation, was twice a highly-cited researcher (2021, 2022) in Clarivate’s list of academic authors in the Cross-Field discipline and he obtained a fast-track promotion to full professor in 2020. Research from the Van de Wiele lab resulted in over 300 peer-reviewed publications (h-index 76), five granted patents and it contributed to the creation of two spin-off companies active in the fields of gastrointestinal contract research and live biotherapeutics development. From 2020 till 2025, Prof. Van de Wiele was director of the Ghent Gut Inflammation Group (GGIG), a UGent-VIB (Flemish Institute Biotechnology) science platform on the topic of gastrointestinal pathologies and chronic inflammatory disorders. 
 

• prof. Tom Van de Wiele - principal investigator
• dr. Ludovica Marinelli (PhD) - post-doctoral researcher
• Pieter De Clercq - doctoral fellow
   

• Oral microbiota reduce wound healing capacity of epithelial monolayers, irrespective of the presence of 5-fluorouracil. EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE. 2018. PMID: 29338309
• 5-Fluorouracil and irinotecan (SN-38) have limited impact on colon microbial functionality and composition in vitro. PEERJ. 2017
• 5-Fluorouracil sensitivity varies among oral micro-organisms. JOURNAL OF MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGY. 2016
• Low-dose irradiation affects the functional behavior of oral microbiota in the context of mucositis. EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE , 2016. PMID 26202372
• Microbiota and their role in the pathogenesis of oral mucositis. ORAL DISEASES   , 2015. PMID 24456144
• Development of an oral mucosa model to study host-microbiome interactions during wound healing. APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY. 2014 PMID  24917376
   

• Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology (CMET) - Ghent University, CAPTURE building, Frieda Saeysstraat 1, 9052 Gent, Belgium
• Ghent Gut Inflammation Group
• Food2Know
• prof. Van de Wiele is interested to receive invitations for presentations or talks