Racha El Hage

EDUCATION

 

University of Ghent Ghent, Belgium

Oct.2014-Sep.2019

PhD in Applied Biological Sciences

● Ability of a propionate-producing synthetic microbial consortium to restore functionality in a dysbiosed human gut microbiome
Supervisors: Prof. Tom Van de Wiele, Dr. Emma Hernandez-Sanabria

 

University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom

Sep.2012 -August 2013
Masters of Science Degree in Molecular Nutrition
● Thesis: Ability of isolated human gut bacteria to utilize oligosaccharides from human milk
Supervisors: Dr. Karen Scott, Prof. Harry Flint, and Dr. Sylvia Duncan Honors Thesis: Second Honors degree

 

American University of Beirut, Lebanon

Sep.2009 – June 2011
Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition and Dietetics
● Concentration: Therapeutic Nutrition

 

AWARDS

International Yakult Symposium Ghent, Belgium

Poster Award Winner April 2018

 

PhD Scholarship University of Ghent, Belgium

Marie Curie PhD fellowship Oct. 2014

 

WORK EXPERIENCE

 

Center for microbial ecology and Technology (Cmet) Ghent, Belgium

Oct.2014 - Sep.2019

PhD thesis
● Thesis: Ability of a propionate-producing synthetic microbial consortium to restore functionality in a dysbiosed human gut microbiome Laboratory skills:
 Anaerobic and aerobic bacterial culturing including probiotics
 Building bioreactors like the in vitro model system (Simulator of the human intestinal microbial ecosystem (SHIME)
 VFA extraction techniques
 Molecular techniques (DNA and RNA extractions, PCR, DGGE)
 Plating and MIC determination (minimum inhibitory concentration)

 

University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Mar.2017 - Apr.2017

Testing the passage of the members of our designed propionate-producing microbial consortium in the upper GI tract specifically in The smallest Intestine (TSI) model under different conditions

 

ProDigest Ghent, Belgium

March 2017

Lyophilization the propionate-producing bacterial consortium and testing its survival afterwards in fed batch experiments that mimic the SHIME

 

American University of Beirut Medical Center, Lebanon

2013 - 2014

Research Assistant in the Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine

 

University of Aberdeen Aberdeen, United Kingdom

May-August 2013
Microbiology Lab:
 Anaerobic culturing of gut bacteria – thin layer chromatography (TLC) –Microscopy

 

Mount Lebanon Hospital Beirut, Lebanon

Jul. 2011- Jan. 2012
Six months training in nutrition and dietetics field
Covered topics:
 Imbalance of body weight
 Diabetes and Endocrinology
 Diseases of the circulatory system and Anemia
 Gastroenterology
 Kidney Disorders
 Pulmonary Diseases
 Infancy and Childhood
 Tube Feeding

 

CONFERENCES

 

International Yakult Symposium Ghent, Belgium
Flash talk and poster presentation: April 2018
 Ability of a propionate producing community to promote recovery from antibiotic-associated gut dysbosis

 

9th Probiotics, prebiotics & new foods Rome, Italy
Poster presentation: Sep. 2017
 Ability of a propionate producing consortium to promote recovery from antibiotic-associated gut dysbosis

 

18th Gut Day Symposium Venlo, Netherland Oral Presentation: Nov. 2016
 Potential of a probiotic propionate producing community to recover from the disorder caused by antibiotics

 

4th World Congress on targeting Microbiota Paris, France
Poster presentation: Oct. 2016
 Potency of a propionate-producing microbial consortium for restoring
gut microbial functionality in gut dysbiosis

 

16th Gut Day symposium Amsterdam, Netherlands Attended Nov. 2014

 

RESEARCH TRAINING
Doctoral school courses and workshops completed:
 Interphase processes of host associated microorganisms-2015
 Advanced Academic English: Conference Skills - Academic Posters-2015
 Leadership Foundation Course-2015
 N2N Multidisciplinary Seminar Series on Bioinformatics -2014-2015.
 Effective Graphical Displays -November 2015

 

SKILLS
 Teaching: mentoring and supervision of a masters student for one year during his dissertation, in addition to teaching assistant in practical lab work in Host-microbe interaction course
 Computer programs: Microsoft office: Excel, PowerPoint, and Word
 Statistical software, GraphPad and Sigma Plot
 Internet search engines and using Gene databases

 

LANGUAGES
 English– speak fluently and read/write with high proficiency
 Arabic– native language
 French– Fair
 German–A2