dr. S (Saskia) van Hemert
Biography
Saskia is the Lead for Healthy Livestock at Wageningen Bioveterinary Research, where she focuses on endemic infectious diseases in livestock and improving resistance and resilience against these diseases. Her expertise lies in gut health and molecular host-microbe interactions.
Dr. Saskia van Hemert studied Chemistry at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and obtained her PhD in 2007 from the Department of Animal Sciences at Wageningen University & Research, with her dissertation titled "Gene Expression Profilingof Chicken Intestinal Host Responses". Following this, she held a PostDoc position at the Top Institute Food and Nutrition. Here she investigated the interactions of lactic acid bacteria with gut cells and with immune cells.
From 2009 to 2023, Dr. van Hemert worked as a senior scientist at Winclove Probiotics. She was responsible for various research projects focused on the application of probiotics and prebiotics, particularly in gut health and the gut-brain axis. Her research included in vitro studies, mechanistic studies, and clinical trials, often conducted in multidisciplinary collaborations.
In her current role at Wageningen Bioveterinary Research, Dr. van Hemert focuses on improving animal health and gut health, and reducing infectious diseases in livestock.