Member info

• FACULTY:
  Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
• DEPARTMENT:
  Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis
• RESEARCH GROUP:
  Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Microbiology
• FUNCTION:
  Assistant professor
• WORK ADDRESS:
  Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Microbiology (LPM), Universiteit Gent, Ottergemsesteenweg 460, 9000 Gent, Belgium
• PUBLICATIONS:
  ORCID
• SUMMARY:
  The Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Microbiology (LPM) studies microbial interactions in the context of infectious diseases, including chronic respiratory diseases (cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and skin disorders (acne, wound infections), aiming to find novel therapeutic approaches. We dissect interactions between bacterial pathogens, their host and the microbiota to gain insights into: (i) the bacterial mediators that play a role in the infectious disease process. (ii) the influence of the host and microbiota on antibiotic activity. (iii) the role of the microbiota on pathogen-triggered inflammation. To this end, our lab uses and develops in vivo-like organotypic model systems that mimic key phenotypic characteristics of the host tissue. Previously developed model systems include in vivo-like models of alveolar and bronchial epithelial cells (incl. of patients with cystic fibrosis) and a co-culture model of keratinocytes and sebocytes. In vivo-like models within the LPM are most often generated using an optimized suspension culture (rotating wall vessel technology) that enables high through-put screening, or using cell culture inserts. Models that recapitulate aspects of a specific body fluid / tissue are used as well, incl. synthetic sputum medium, artificial sebum, artificial wound (dermis and blood components), and artificial synovial fluid. For models of chronic infection, bacterial pathogens are often cultured as biofilms, hereby mimicking their in vivo phenotype.
• EMAIL:
  aurelie.crabbe@ugent.be
• WEBLINK:
  https://www.ugent.be/fw/pharmaceutical-analysis/en/research/micro