Dear all, The research by Prof. Jeroen Raes on human gut flora metagenomics has received a lot of media attention (see http://www.vib.be/en/research/scientists/Pages/Jeroen-Raes-Lab.aspx for an overview). Next Tuesday this expert who performed his PhD and postdoc research at Ghent University, will present you his latest insights. [cid:image001.jpg@01D196F8.88017DF0] [cid:image002.png@01D196F8.88017DF0] The BIG N2N seminar series is a Specialist Course in the Doctoral Schools training program "Towards population-level microbiome monitoring: the Flemish Gut Flora Project" Prof. Dr. Jeroen Raes KUL, VIB lab for Bioinformatics and (eco-)systems biology April 19, 2016 (11:00) Jozef Schell seminar room, Technologiepark 927 - 9052 Zwijnaarde www.bign2n.ugent.be/events<http://www.bign2n.ugent.be/events> www.bign2n.ugent.be/node/232<http://www.bign2n.ugent.be/node/232> Abstract Alterations in the gut microbiota have been linked to various pathologies, ranging from inflammatory bowel disease and diabetes to cancer. Although large numbers of clinical studies aiming at microbiome-based disease markers are currently being performed, our basic knowledge about the normal variability of the human intestinal microbiota and the factors that determine this still remain limited. Here, I will present a large-scale study of the gut microbiome variation in a geographically confined region (Flanders, Belgium). A cohort of >5000 individuals from the normal population is sampled for microbiome analysis and extensive metadata covering demographic, health- and lifestyle-related parameters is collected. Based on this cohort, a large-scale cross-sectional study of microbiome variability in relation to health as well as parameters associated to microbiome composition is being performed. In this presentation, I will discuss our experiences in large-scale microbiome monitoring, show how the development of dedicated computational approaches can assist in microbiome analysis and interpretation, and first results coming out of this effort. Kind regards, Katrijn Vannerum PhD Project manager BIG N2N (Bioinformatics Institute Ghent From Nucleotides to Networks) Ghent University http://www.bign2n.ugent.be/ twitter: @N2N_UGent Katrijn.Vannerum@UGent.be<mailto:Katrijn.Vannerum@UGent.be> Technologiepark 927 9052 Gent, Belgium +32 (0)9 331 36 85 [logo_BIG N2N_signature]