Alexander Kurilshikov, PhD

MSc (2009) Dept of Cytology and Genetics, Novosibirsk State University, Russian Federation

PhD (2016) ICBFM SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation

Research interests: microbiome, bioinformatics, genomics, computational biology, systems biology, machine learning

Email

See all my papers in Google scholar

Latest news

• Feb 2024 – Promoted to Assistant Professor in Department of Genetics of UMCG
• Nov 2023 – Awarded Clarivate Top Cited Researchers Award 2023
• Apr 2023 – Awarded ZonMW MECVS grant
• Nov 2022 – Awarded Clarivate Top Cited Researchers Award 2022
• Nov 2019 – Appointed a project leader within ExposomeNL consortium
• Dec 2017 – Appointed a coordinator of MiBioGen consortium

Research lines

1. Role of the microbiome in mediating environmental effects on human health. In previous studies I have identified genetic and external factors that drive changes in microbiome composition, thereby, in turn, affecting human health and disease. However, a substantial number of environmental factors remained out of scope in these studies because of the challenges involved in their measurement. These factors include chemical, noise and dust pollution, access to green space and transportation, and other factors being studied by exposome research. As many of these factors are known, or assumed, to have a substantial effect on human health, I hypothesise that the microbiome might act as a mediator or a footprint of such environmental effects.

2. The effect of the microbiome in the pathogenesis of noncommunicable diseases. This research line is being addressed by many of my studies, but there many more diseases with understudied aetiologies in which the microbiome is also assumed to contribute. In several large-scale studies, I previously revealed the connection of microbiome with IBD, IBS, depression, CVD and other diseases. I am now going to continue this research line by studying the microbiome signatures and drivers of other diseases. Within this, my current efforts are focused on ME/CFS and disorders of newborns and their mothers.

Selected papers

• Garmaeva S, Sinha T, … ,Kurilshikov A, Zhernakova A. Transmission and dynamics of mother-infant gutviruses during pregnancy and early life. Nat Commun. 2024 Mar 2; 15(1):1945.
• Gois MFB, … , Kurilshikov A. Impact of occupationalpesticide exposure on the human gut microbiome. Front Microbiol. 2023 Aug10; 14:1223120.
• Brushett S, … , Kurilshikov A,Zhernakova A. Gut feelings: the relations between depression, anxiety, psychotropic drugs and the gut microbiome. Gut Microbes. 2023 Dec; 15(2):2281360.
• Lopera-Maya EA, Kurilshikov A, et al. Effect of host genetics on the gut microbiomein 7,738 participants of the Dutch Microbiome Project. Nat Genet. 2022 Feb; 54(2):143-151.
• Gacesa R, Kurilshikov A, et al. Environmental factors shaping the gut microbiome in a Dutch population. Nature. 2022 Apr; 604(7907):732-739.
• Brandao Gois, …, Kurilshikov A. Role of the gut microbiome in mediating lactose intolerance symptoms. Gut. 2022 Jan; 71(1):215-217.
• Kurilshikov A, et al. Large-scale association analyses identify host factors influencing human gut microbiome composition. Nat Genet. 2021 Feb; 53(2):156-165.
• Zeevi D, Korem T, Godneva A, Bar N, Kurilshikov A, Lotan-Pompan M,Weinberger A, Fu J, Wijmenga C, Zhernakova A, Segal E. Structural variation inthe gut microbiome associates with host health. Nature. 2019 Apr; 568(7750):43-48.
• Sanna S, van Zuydam NR, Mahajan A, Kurilshikov A, et al. Causal relationships among the gut microbiome, short-chain fatty acids and metabolic diseases. Nat Genet. 2019 Apr; 51(4):600-605.
• Kurilshikov A, et al. Gut Microbial Associations to Plasma Metabolites Linked to Cardiovascular Phenotypes and Risk. Circ Res. 2019 Jun7; 124(12):1808-1820.
• Wang J, Kurilshikov A, et al. Meta-analysis of human genome-microbiome association studies: the MiBioGen consortium initiative. Microbiome. 2018 Jun 8; 6(1):101.
• Kurilshikov A, Wijmenga C, Fu J, Zhernakova A. Host Genetics and Gut Microbiome: Challenges and Perspectives. Trends Immunol. 2017 Sep; 38(9):633-647.
• Schirmer M, Smeekens SP, Vlamakis H, Jaeger M, Oosting M, Franzosa EA, TerHorst R, Jansen T, Jacobs L, Bonder MJ, Kurilshikov A, Fu J, Joosten LAB,Zhernakova A, Huttenhower C, Wijmenga C, Netea MG, Xavier RJ. Linking the Human Gut Microbiome to Inflammatory Cytokine Production Capacity. Cell. 2016 Nov 3; 167(4):1125-1136.
• Bonder MJ, Kurilshikov A, et al. The effect of host genetics on the gut microbiome. Nat Genet. 2016 Nov; 48(11):1407-1412.
• Zhernakova A, Kurilshikov, et al. Population-based metagenomics analysis reveals markers for gut microbiome composition and diversity. Science. 2016 Apr 29; 352(6285):565-9.

Teaching experience

• Course ordinator and teacher in “Big Data in Human Disease” course for bachelor students, UMCG (2020-now).
• Week coordinator and teacher in Molecular Medicine and Innovative Treatment (MMIT) master program, UMCG (2020-now)