Dr. Nadia Everaert

Associate Professor at KU Leuven, Belgium

Topic; Strategies stimulating microbiota colonization and gut health in broilers

Dr Nadia Everaert is heading the Nutrition and Animal-Microbiota EcoSystems (NAMES) lab, at KU Leuven (Belgium). Her research group studies microbiota colonization, gut health and gut function in monogastric species. The NAMES Lab investigates host-microbiota interaction and its impact on gastrointestinal tract development through in vivo experiments and in vitro models to improve animal performance and health to make chickens and pigs more resilient to antigen and environmental stressors. More specifically, the lab focused on the impact of hatching on farm on the gut development in early life of broilers, and their impact on the cecal microbiota. Another strategy to modulate the gut microbiota and stimulating the gut in early life was done by an in ovo sodium butyrate application. Finally, by applying fecal transplantations from mature donors, they aim to understand how a complex microbiota, provided in early life, affects gut homeostasis.