Wouter A. De Steenhuijsen Piters (Netherlands)

University Medical Center Utrecht

Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunology

Wouter de Steenhuijsen Piters, MD PhD, is a full-time post-doctoral researcher at the UMCU with a clinical background as a medical resident in paediatrics (2012/2013) and lung medicine (2018/2019). He studies the infant respiratory tract bacterial communities (‘microbiota’) in the context of the host immune system and the impact of host-microbial interactions on respiratory infection susceptibility. His awards include the poster award at the Next Generation Immunology EMBO congress held at the prestigious Weizmann Institute (Rehovot, Israel) and the Eijkman-Winkler Institute Award for Excellence in Science and Presentation (University of Utrecht). He was awarded cum laude for his PhD-thesis for adapting and applying novel data-analysis tools to help answering clinically relevant questions (University of Utrecht, 2018). Over the years, he has been an invited speaker at multiple (national and international) conferences. His current work focusses on the early-life development of microbiota and immune system in the context of viral infections and host factors.

Moderator of 1 Session

Conference Calendar

Meet-the-Expert Session 07: The Microbiome and Relevance to Pneumococcal Disease

Session Type

Meet-the-Expert Session

Date

Wed, 22.06.2022

Session Time

13:45 - 14:45

Room

Grand Ballroom East

Chair(s)

Session Description

Respiratory tract infection susceptibility differs between individuals and is impacted by the resident airway microbiota. In this meet-the-expert session we explore the infant airway microbiota development over time and in relation to infection susceptibility. In addition, we discuss the impact of the airway microbiota on pneumococcal colonization patterns. Appropriate study design and study execution are essential to (respiratory) microbiota studies. Therefore, we will interactively discuss important considerations when designing/executing studies that include the characterization of the respiratory microbiota.

Please note: All MTE sessions are designed to encourage active learning and to concentrate on close interaction between audience and speakers. The MTE session organisers have provided at least 15 minutes for active discussions in their agenda.