dr. JJ (Jurriaan) Mes

The mysteries from your intestines Jurriaan Mes is trying to unravel through a recreated intestine; an organ 7 meters long. The artificial stomach (NERDT), gastrointestinal system (SHIME) and laboratorium grown intestinal cells could possibly answer questions we are currently stuck with such as; how do we digest and absorb nutrients from our food? how can we maintain an optimal gut health? do probiotic drinks make sense? What should you eat for a healthy gut flora? And how can our gut cause depression?

Dr. Jurriaan Mes is a molecular biologist and started his career in the area of fungal-plant interaction (UvA). Then he moved to WUR Plant Research, working in the field of molecular breeding and fruit developmental genes in Arabidopsis and tomato. Then he moved to WUR Food & Biobased Research working on molecular diagnostic for quality of fruit & vegetables and initiated research towards the health effects of food products. He was leading the Food Health Research at Food & Biobased Research, a multidisciplinary group focusing on aspects like taste, safety, as well as positive effects of food with an emphasis on the gut and immune system (digestibility, bioavailability, bioactivity). Currently he is senior scientist coorinating research in the field of nutrient digestion and uptake, immunomodulation by food and the interaction of food with health problems like Alzheimer Disease and T2D. He coordinated programme’s on pre- and probiotics, is involved in large National project on nutritional and health effects of sustainable protein sources (e.g. PROUD), is involved in the National MOCIA project related to lifestyle and cognitive decline, coordinate a PPP project on bioavailability of micronutrients (BioMicro). He is also active as expert in EFSA Novel Food applications and in the FAO workgroup that wants to establish a reliable database on protein quality and digestibility data.

He had and have many project with different types of industry reaching from plantbreeding, growers/producers, retail, ingredient suppliers, food and feed companies ranging from small SME to large enterprices etc.

Alzheimer’s is a very dramatic disease, both for patients and those around them. As yet, there is no medicine to prevent the disease or effectively combat it. One possible key to an effective medicine lies in our food, specifically in how our bodies absorb fat. On the basis of new insights, researcher Jurriaan Mes wants to search for a breakthrough. To this aim, he and his research group take part in the Fundamental Change campaign of WUR.