Apr. Gilles de Meester

Gilles de Meester graduated as Master in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Drug Development) at Ghent University in June 2020 and started his PhD research at the LPM since January 2021.

His research focuses on the role of metabolites in the antibiotic susceptibility of respiratory pathogens in the context of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Many COPD patients suffer from acute exacerbations associated with bacterial infections, which are commonly treated with antibiotics. However, antibiotics often have a minor and inconsistent effect on the improvement of symptoms in the COPD patient population. Previous research from the LPM has shown that metabolites produced by lung epithelial cells influence the activity of antibiotics against respiratory pathogens. Yet, the effect of metabolites (produced by bacterial and/or host cells) that are present in the lung environment of patients with COPD on antibiotic (in)efficacy is poorly understood.

This project aims to study if and how metabolites in the COPD lung environment influence the activity of antibiotics, and to gain insights whether these metabolites play a role in the (in)efficacy of anti biotics in the patient population.