Molecular Microbiology and Genomics Consultants

a company spezialized in molecular biology and genomics /bioinformatics of bacteria

ABOUT US - MMGC experience and partners

Principal research consultant of MMGC is Dr. Trudy Wassenaar, with expertise in the fields listed below. Heike Laubenheimer Dipl.Biol. (Heike@mmgc.eu) is a microbiologist specialised in medical microbiology who has recently joint our team. Our secretary Ms. Becker takes care of all administration (admin@mmgc.eu). In addition, partners with excellent knowledge on European patents, graphic design, and bioinformatics are members of the team.

About Trudy Wassenaar

With over 15 years of laboratory bench work there are few problems that the founder of MMGC can't solve. The main subject of her research was, and still is, Campylobacter jejuni, a human pathogen causing diarrhea. Her List of Publications speaks for itself. She is also Curator of the Virtual Museum of Bacteria.

Professional experience

  • 1998-present: Founder of MMGC and principal research consultant in academic and applied microbiological research. Three-month research visits were spent at the University of Cape Town, South Africa; at the RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia; at the South-African National Bioinformatic Institute, Belleville, South Africa; and at ID-DLO in Lelystad, the Netherlands. Research consulting is carried out by intensive Email contact, web conferencing and regular personal visits.
  • 2005-present: Part-time associate professor at the Center for Biological Sequence Analysis, Danish Technical University, Lyngby, Denmark.
  • 1999-present: curator of the Virtual Museum of Bacteria, www.bacteriamuseum.org.
  • 1993-1998: Research fellow at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz (Germany), Institute for Medical Microbiology. Subjects of Research: heat shock and porin genes of Salmonella, hemolysin genes of E. coli and V. cholerae, and nearly all aspects of Campylobacter: molecular genetic characterization of virulence and colonization properties, genotyping methods, genetic instability, genomics, population genetics.
  • 1989-1993: Ph.D., later Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Utrecht, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, the Netherlands. Subject of Research: motility genes of Campylobacter jejuni.
  • 1984-1989: Laboratory assistant at the Free University in Amsterdam, Department of Biochemistry, the Netherlands. Subject of Research: coordinated ribosomal protein biosynthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Education and Degrees

  • 1992: Ph.D. University of Utrecht, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, the Netherlands.
  • 1984: B.Sc. University of Wales, College of Swansea. Bachelor of Science Honors II.1 Degree in Biochemistry
  • 1982: Qualified Laboratory Assistant in Biochemistry, with molecular biology as specialization, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Referee activities

Member of the Editorial Board of Journal of Applied Microbiolgy and of Letters of Applied Microbiology. Referee for the following journals: Microbiology UK; Applied and Environmental Microbiology; Journal of Applied Microbiology; Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Emerging Infectious Diseases, Journal of Infectious Diseases. I have acted as a referee for chapters in the following books: Environmental Microbiology and Ecology (Blackwell); Campylobacter, 2nd Edition (ASM Press). External examiner of Ph.D. theses from: RMIT University, Sydney, Australia; Utrecht University, The Netherlands; University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Societies

Member of the American Society for Microbiology, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Hygiene und Mikrobiologie, Society for General Microbiology, Society for Applied Microbiology.

References

References from academic colleagues or one of our clients can be provided upon request.