Henning Seedorf

Henning Seedorf obtained his university diploma (2003) and doctoral degree (2006) at the Philipps-University in Marburg (Germany). He spent his postdoctoral periods in the laboratories of Rolf Thauer (Max Planck Institute for terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany), Jeffrey Gordon (Washington University, St Louis, USA), and Peter Janssen (AgResearch Ltd., Palmerston North, New Zealand). In 2015 he was appointed as Principal Investigator at Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL).

Research Interests

• Biochemical and molecular characterization of microbial isolates
• Diversity and function of prokaryotic and eukaryotic intestinal microorganisms
• Mechanisms of host-host and host-microbe interaction
• Selective manipulation of intestinal microbial communities
• Research Projects

Host-specific microbial consortia It has been estimated that the human gut harbors trillions of commensal bacteria and it is increasingly recognized that these have a strong influence on human physiology and health. How microbes affect the host at a mechanistic level remains often poorly understood, but recent studies have demonstrated that some of these processes require highly specific host-microbe interactions. One aim of the team is the construction and characterization of defined microbial consortia in vivo using microbial isolates that are indigenous to the host. The ultimate aim is to improve our understanding of microbe-microbe and host-microbe interaction in the mammalian gut. The impact of Southeast-Asian diet on gut microbes Diet strongly influences the composition of the gut microbiota and microbiome. The team is interested in understanding how specific dietary components of the Southeast Asian diet may have shaped the human gut microbiota and its constituting members.

Education

• PhD Philipps-Universität Marburg (2003 — 2006)
• Diploma Philipps-Universität Marburg (1998 — 2003)
• University of Oxford