معرفی
Dr. Saskia Braber is a permanent Researcher at the Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Science, Utrecht University. She completed her Master's in Animal Sciences at Wageningen University (2004) and earned her PhD from Utrecht University in immunopharmacology, focusing on cigarette smoke-induced lung emphysema. After postdoctoral work in veterinary pharmacology and industry experience at Danone Nutricia Research, she returned to Utrecht University in 2020 to establish her independent research group.
Her research investigates immunomodulatory mechanisms of nutritional components (e.g., oligosaccharides) on mucosal barriers in the gut and airways. She employs in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo models to explore pharma-nutrition approaches for inflammatory diseases under the 'One Health' framework. Key themes include:
- Gut-lung axis interactions in COPD/asthma
- Oligosaccharide-mediated pathogen defense
- Nutritional interventions for barrier integrity
- Pollution-induced immune dysregulation
Her recent publications (2019-2025) demonstrate strong focus on:
- Non-digestible oligosaccharides as anti-infective/anti-inflammatory agents
- Mechanistic studies of gut-lung crosstalk
- Nutritional modulation of COPD and asthma
- Novel therapies for mucosal barrier repair
She leads multiple collaborations with industry partners (Friesland Campina, Inbiose, Nutricia) and supervises 10 PhD students as co-promotor. Major grants include an NWO-CCC award for 'Improving lung health by carbohydrate-directed changes in intestinal microbiota in calves'. Her lab utilizes advanced co-culture systems, murine disease models, and translational approaches.
