prof. dr. A.P. (Alexandra/Sasha) Zhernakova

Since January 2012 I hold a Rosalind Franklin Fellowship (tenure track position) in Groningen University and have joined the Dept. of Genetics, UMCG. My work in UMCG included analysis of genetic predisposition to immune-related diseases and gastrointestinal function, and investigaton of biological aging (telomere length, age-related gene expression, and other factors) with immune and metabolic diseases.

From 2013, I started the new research line on studying the role of microbiome in health in diseases. In collaboration with Lifelines, we profiled >10,000 participants for their gut microbiome composition and identified multiple links between gut microbes and individual health. This lead to the establishment of Groningen Microbiome Hub, a multi-disciplinary community of more than 30 reserachers focused on various aspects of microbiome studies: https://groningenmicrobiome.org/

From 2016 my major focus is on collecting and profiling the LLNEXT cohort