Robert Jan Brummer
Robert Jan Brummer Position: Professor School/office: University Management TeamEmail: cm9iZXJ0LmJydW1tZXI7b3J1LnNl
Phone: +46 19 303731, +46 738 426600
Room: X2205, E3118
- Nutrition-Gut-Brain Interactions Research Centre (NGBI)
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Responsive Nutrition Research Centre
About Robert Jan Brummer
Since 2008, I am working at Örebro University as professor of gastroenterology and clinical nutrition and since 2010 I am also dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health. I received a MD and specialized in internal medicine and gastroenterology in the Netherlands and specialized in clinical nutrition and obtained a PhD in Sweden 1992 and became professor of medical nutrition and clinical dietetics at Maastricht University 2002. As a true European I speak or read in four languages daily. A working day comprises faculty administration and management, leading a very dynamic research group and environment, some clinical work at the University Hospital and teaching less than I would like to, as time is limiting, but allows for a short training in the evening.
Management
As dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health I have the priviledge to support the development of a young but highly professional organisation towards international class. ”Simply the best” should solve most of the problems.
Research
Initially, my research activities were at the interphase between nutrition, metabolism and the gastrointestinal tract. Working as a senior consultant, in close collaboration with a psychiatrist and clinical psychologist, at a ward unit dedicated to patients with somatic and psychiatric comorbidity, created new paradigms based on inter- and cross-diciplinary thinking. Gradually I reshaped my research interest and activities towards the understanding of the interaction between nutrition, gut microbiota, the gastrointestinal tract and the brain, in order to develop better preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic modalities for common disorders of the gut (such as in subjects with irritable bowel syndrome or elderly persons) as well as –in the near future- optimizing brain function with regards to e.g. stress, anxiety and mood.
Education
During two decades I have been engaged in the problem-based learning curriculum of the Medical School at Maastricht University, the Netherlands, This made me passionate about student-centered and life-long learning as well as shifting the role of teacher from passive knowledge bank towards creative facilitator and coach. This is true for both under- and post-graduate training. My ambition is to offer our students the best education at international standards with a clear European perspective in order to be able to solve the challenges of the future.
Innovation
The key towards knowledge valorization, both in terms of commercial and societal benefit, is to separate ”What to know?” from ”How to know?” as well as ”Nice to know!” from ”Need to know!”. Having worked in and leaded clinical research as well as research in a public private partnership framework. I do not to accept the dichotomy between basic and applied research. Also here a paradigm shift is required in order to create more health, welfare and prosperity.
Research projects
Active projects
- Comparing the efficacy of encapsulated and non-encapsulated probiotics to affect brain function
- Compositional analysis of the human gut microbiota along the entire large intestine
- Effect of serotonergic stimulation on the gut-brain axis in irritable bowel syndrome patients compared with healthy subjects applying functional brain imaging
- The effects of fermentable dietary fibre supplementation on intestinal permeability and inflammation in microscopic colitis
- Establishing a novel gut-brain axis model
- Interaction between dietary protein and fibre fermentation - its functional consequences
- Butyrate-promoting dietary fibres as a potential strategy for the prevention of type-2 diabetes
- Mat i Sverige
- Microbes inside
- Mode of action of butyrate in the human colon
- Nutritional status in older people in need of health and social care
- PAN Prodig - True Ileal Digestibility of Different Plant-Based Proteins in a Human Ileostomy Model
- PAN Promet - The Effect of Oral Ingestion of Animal and Plant-Based Proteins on the Somatotropic Axis
- PAN Protein - plant-based proteins contributing to a healthy and sustainable diet
- Serenity in old age
- Exploring the probiotic and postbiotic effect of Akkermansia muciniphila on intestinal barrier function in patients with Parkinson's disease - applying Ussing chambers and electron microscopy techniques
- Systematic modelling: quantitative and semi-qualitative implementations of nutrition-microbe-gut-blood-brain interactions regarding the role of butyrate
- The Blue Muffin Study - Impact of gut physiology and function on the formation of bioactive oligomers upon dietary fibre consumption
- To determine the butyrate transport capacity in vitro and in tissue samples from healthy individuals and from patients with digestive disorders
- Örebro Birth Cohort
Completed projects
- Glucocorticoid-enhanced extinction-based exposure therapy in Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Dietary Fibers supporting Gut and Immune Function - from polysaccharide compound to health claim (FibeBiotics)
- Effect of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) ligands on human colonic intraepithelial lymphocytes
- Effect of the enzyme AN-PEP on gluten degradation in gluten-sensitive individuals
- The effect of probiotic supplementation on antibody response against SARS-CoV-2 in healthy adults
- Faecal microbiota transfer in microscopic colitis
- Faecal microbial transplantation (FMT) in IBS
- Integrative bioinformatics: combining clinical, physiological, brain imaging and molecular profiles
- Intervention with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for subjects with IBS and its effects on visceral perception, abdominal complaints, psychological functioning and gut microbiota
- Dietary habits and physical activity for health and wellbeing
- Microbe-host interactions in post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome (PI-IBS)
- New dietary strategies addressing the specific needs of elderly population for an healthy ageing in Europe
- Probiotic Lactobacillus modulation of cellular immune responses
- Psycho(bio)logical effects of a probiotic mixture - an fMRI study
- Rituximab for schizophrenia spectrum disorder. A pilot study.
- Rituximab - Immunotherapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. A pilot study.
- To evaluate anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects of butyrate on the transport of large neutral amino acids such as tryptophan, a precursor of the neurotransmitter serotonin, in in vitro models
- Development of a comprehensive elderly cohort
- Development of an in vivo butyrate sensor