Laboratory of Medical Microbiology - PhD students

Ann Versporten was in charge of the data management for the last two years (up to 2011) of ESAC (European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption), after which the project was transferred to the ECDC (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control) as ESAC-Net. She was responsible for the data management of 2 European projects. One focusing on antimicrobial consumption in outpatient settings (the appropriateness of prescribing antibiotics in primary health care in Europe with respect to antibiotic resistance – APRES), the other on antimicrobial consumption among hospitalized children (Antibiotic Resistance and Prescribing in European Children – ARPEC). She was further in charge of the antimicrobial consumption data management for 14 non-EU countries of the WHO European region in close collaboration with the WHO/EUROPE. From 2014 upwards, she will mainly work on the hospital-based Global Point Prevalence Survey of Antimicrobial Consumption and Resistance (Global-PPS). Her main field of interest is antibiotic use among children and the methods to employ to express antibiotic use in order to enhance evidence base of inappropriate antibiotic prescribing. Ann is preparing a PhD.

Office: S2.36
E-mail: ann.versporten@uantwerpen.be
Tel.: +32 3 265 24 18

List of Publications

Juan Pablo graduated as a Bachelor in Biotechnology at Universidad Pablo de Olavide (Seville) in 2016 and as a Master in Microbiology at Universidad de Granada in 2018. As a PhD student at the Laboratory of Medical Microbiology, he studies the microbiome of patients suffering from Respiratory Tract Infections and the effect of antibiotic intake in these patients.

Office: S6.25
E-mail: juanpablo.rodriguezruiz@uantwerpen.be
Tel.: +32 3 265 93 25

Minh is a PhD student at the Laboratory of Medical Microbiology. She received her Master degree in Biomedical Sciences of Tropical and Infectious Diseases from the University of Antwerp in 2017. Minh is interested in the driving forces underlying the emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria in complex settings of community, hospitals, and environment. Her current research is using next-generation sequencing techniques to finely dissect the genetic changes associated with the adaptation and evolution of pathogens under antibiotic pressure at country-, hospital- and individual-levels.

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Office: S6.25
E-mail: minh.nguyenngoc@uantwerpen.be
Tel.: +32 3 265 93 25

Thomas graduated as a Master of Biological Sciences from Utrecht University in 2016. He is currently working at the Laboratory of Medical Microbiology at the University of Antwerp as a PhD student. His project looks into the fundamental and clinical aspects of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in European intensive care units with a focus on collateral antibiotic treatment effects.

Office: S6.25
E-mail: thomas.vanderschalk@uantwerpen.be
Tel.: +32 3 265 93 25

Ines graduated as a Master of Science in Drug Development from KU Leuven in 2013. Before joining the Laboratory of Medical Microbiology she worked as a pharmacist and as a researcher at the Belgian Scientific Institute of Public Health. She joined the Global-PPS team at the Laboratory of Medical Microbiology in 2018 and is pursuing a PhD on the implementation of hospital antimicrobial stewardship programmes with a focus on low- and middle-income countries

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Office: S2.36
E-mail: ines.pauwels@uantwerpen.be
Tel.: +32 3 265 93 17

Mathias obtained a professional bachelor in Biochemistry and Biotechnology from the Karel de Grote Hogeschool in 2016 before bridging to the University of Antwerp where he graduated as a MSc in Biochemistry and Biotechnology in 2020 Mathias is currently a doctoral student at the Laboratory of Medical Microbiology at the University of Antwerp. His research lies within the framework of the H2020-funded large pan-European COVID-19 cohort study entitled ORCHESTRA. Mathias is interested in the impact of the microbiome on disease severity and aims to identify microbial biomarkers prognostic of disease severity in the respiratory and intestinal flora and identify protective markers against severe respiratory infections.

Office: S6.25
E-mail: mathias.smet@uantwerpen.be​
Tel.: +32 3 265 93 25

Sahaya Glingston graduated as a Bachelor of Technology in Biotechnology from Anna University, Chennai in 2014 and as a Master of Technology in Biotechnology at Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati in 2018. He was a Junior research fellow at the Organelle Biology and Cellular Ageing Lab (OBCAL) in Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati before joining as a PhD student in the Laboratory of Medical Microbiology. He is involved in studying the molecular mechanism of colistin heteroresistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli.

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Office: S6.25

E-mail: SahayaGlingston.rajakani@uantwerpen.be​

Tel.: +32 3 265 93 25

Sam obtained his degree of Medical Doctor (MD) in 2017 at the University of Antwerp, after which he started his advanced master of specialized medicine in laboratory medicine, with a focus on clinical microbiology. During his traineeship, he worked in various microbiology laboratories in Antwerp and started his PhD on the molecular background of antimicrobial resistance at the Laboratory of Medical Microbiology after graduating in 2022. Additional to this research, Sam also works for the Hospital Outbreak Support Team (HOST) for the ZNA-GZA hospital network, the 3th largest hospital network in Europe.

Office: S.625

E-mail: Sam.VanGoethem@uantwerpen.be ​

Tel.: +32 3 265 93 25

Enya obtained a Bachelor degree in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Antwerp and graduated as a Master in Biomedical Sciences – Environmental and health sciences in 2022. Her passion for microbial genetics was fueled by her Master thesis about Whole genome sequencing of extra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli, which led her to apply for a PhD position at LMM. 

When she is not at LMM, you can usually find her on a tennis court, hiking through nature or bickering with her two sisters.

Office: S.625

E-mail: enya.arconadanuin@uantwerpen.be  

Tel.: +32 3 265 93 25

Lara graduated with a Master of Biomedical Sciences: Infectious and Tropical Diseases from the University of Antwerp in 2022. Following her master thesis at LMM, she is continuing her work as a PhD student on the characterisation and dynamics of pneumococcal populations in Belgium. More broadly, she is also investigating the interactions between commensals and pathogens in the respiratory tract using co-cultures and biofilm models.

Office: S.625

E-mail: lara.dierckx@uantwerpen.be  

Tel.: +32 3 265 93 25

Annelies graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Amsterdam in 2017 and with a Master of Science in Epidemiology from the University of Antwerp in 2022. After graduating, she has been working with professor Nele Brusselaers on projects related to Clostridioides difficile infections. Annelies has recently joined the Global-PPS team at the Laboratory of Medical Microbiology in 2023 and is currently pursuing a PhD on antimicrobial consumption and stewardship in specialist outpatient care.  

Office: S2.36

E-mail: annelies.boven@uantwerpen.be  

Tel.: +32 3 265 9 2 28 

Anouk graduated with a Master of Biomedical Sciences: Infectious and Tropical Diseases from the University of Antwerp in 2023. She did her master thesis at LMM on the prevalence and spread of colistin heteroresistance among Klebsiella pneumoniae strains isolated from various ICUs in Europe which further sparked her interest for the field of microbiology and antibiotic resistance. She currently works at LMM as a PhD student within the NeoIPC project on the acquisition and transmission of antibiotic resistant bacteria in NICUs.

Office: S.625

E-mail: anouk.braspenning@uantwerpen.be  

Tel.: +32 3 265 93 25