ESR Project 2
Gemma Pitotti
Gemma Pitotti is a PhD candidate at the Academic Medical Center (AMC) in Amsterdam. Before starting her PhD, she obtained a BSc in Biotechnology and an MRes in Systems and Synthetic Biology at Imperial College London.
Her project focuses on the role of the gut microbiome in the development of sepsis in preterm children. Sepsis is a systemic infection caused by bacteria, viruses or fungi and in extreme cases can lead to death. Research conducted at the AMC revealed that the bacteria causing sepsis in these children could be found in their gut up to 7 days before development of the disease. The goal of this project is to understand the mechanism that allows this bacteria to reach the blood, with the hope that it can be prevented. This will be done using intestinal organoids, which are able to replicate the environment of the human intestine.
