The University of Stavanger is looking for a Postdoc in Bioinformatics and the Human Intestinal Microbiome.

In the clinic, microbial eukaryotes are usually treated as parasites. However, recent data suggest a possible beneficial and/or commensal role for intestinal eukaryotes such as Blastocystis. Given the widespread distribution of Blastocystis in the general population and our preliminary data, we hypothesise that this intestinal microbe plays a beneficial role in human intestinal health and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in particular.

The current literature on IBD and the gut microbiome has mainly focused on the bacterial microbiome while ignoring microbial eukaryotes. Therefore, it remains unknown whether gut microbial eukaryotes such as Blastocystis are associated with clinical outcomes such as disease activity, gut inflammation, treatment response, or quality of life and fatigue in patients with IBD.

This project will thoroughly address our current lack of understanding of the role of the intestinal protist Blastocystis in intestinal health and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in particular.