Erik Bakkeren

Within our guts, we house hundreds of different bacterial species collectively known as the microbiota. The microbiota provides many beneficial functions including keeping out harmful bacteria such as disease-causing pathogens or antibiotic resistant strains. I combine theory with experiments to study interactions between bacteria in the gut. I aim to understand both how the microbiota collectively provides resistance to colonization by pathogens, and how we might remove harmful bacterial strains from of the gut if they do colonize.