Anne Becker, DVM, MSc, PhD

Assistant Professor of Microbiology

From a microbiologist’s point of view, scientific approaches towards safeguarding the life and well-being of animal hosts is inseparable from a better understanding of the microbiota evolutionarily associated with these hosts. Dr. Becker focuses mainly on the molecular characterization of the gut microbiota of exotic species, nutritional modulation of these bacterial communities and their role in host health and ex-situ and in-situ animal conservation. She also developed special interest in coral microbial ecology.

Current projects include studies on the gut microbiota of mongooses on St Kitts and the role of coral-associated micro-organisms in coral health and disease.

Education

Master in Veterinary Sciences (DVM, Msc Vet Sci)
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University

Doctor in Veterinary Sciences (PhD)
Laboratory of Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University
Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University

Qualified Teachers Training for Higher Education
Faculty of Psychology and Pedagogic Science, Ghent University

Research

From a microbiologist’s point of view, scientific approaches towards safeguarding the life and well-being of animal hosts is inseparable from a better understanding of the microbiota evolutionarily associated with these hosts. Dr. Becker focuses mainly on the molecular characterization of the microbiome of exotic species, nutritional modulation of these bacterial communities (using dynamic in-vitro simulation models) and their role in host health and ex-situ and in-situ animal conservation.

Current projects include the microbiome and resistome of mongooses on St Kitts and the prevalence of MRSA in primates.

Publication Highlights

Whitehouse-Tedd KM, Dierenfeld ES, Becker AAMJ, Huys G, Williams J, Depauw S, Kerr K, Janssens GPJ. Captive cheetah nutrition. In: Marker L, Schmidt-Kuentzel A, Boast L (Eds.) Conservation and Biology of the Cheetah. Chapter 28. Academix Press (Elsevier) (in press)

Becker AAMJ, Janssens GPJ, Snauwaert C, Hesta M, Huys G (2015) Integrated community profiling indicates long-term temporal stability of the predominant faecal microbiota in captive cheetahs. PloS One 10 e:0123933
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0123933

Becker AAMJ, Hesta M, Hollants J, Janssens GPJ, Huys G (2014) Phylogenetic analysis of faecal microbiota from captive cheetahs reveals underrepresentation of Bacteroidetes and Bifidobacteriaceae. BMC Microbiology 14:43
http://bmcmicrobiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2180-14-43

Brinkman B, Becker A, Ayiseh R, Hildebrand F, Raes J, Huys G, Vandenabeele P (2013) Gut microbiota affects sensitivity to acute DSS-induced colitis independently of host genotype. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases 19, 2560-2567.