Remco Kort

short bio

Dr. Remco Kort is Professor in microbiology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and holder of the ARTIS-Micropia chair. His research focuses on host microbe interactions, including the role of lactic acid bacteria in food fermentation and vaginal health. He authored De microbemens (microbe man, transl.) about the intimate relationship between man and microbes. In Amsterdam he co-developed ARTIS-Micropia, the only microbe museum in the world. He is the co-founder of Yoba for Life, a non-profit organization, which developed a dried bacterial probiotic starter culture and established a program for enabling local production of functional fermented foods for low-income communities in East-Africa.

Links: Research portal,  Research gate profile and LinkedIn profile

Selected research topics at the VU ARTIS-Micropia chair and media coverage

Bacterial transfer during French kissing (November 17, 2014) Microbiome BBC News NPR Independent  

A novel starter culture for probiotic yoghurt (November 8, 2015) Microbial Cell Factories

Diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis (April 28,2016) BMC Infectious diseases

Health benefits of fermented foods (December 18, 2016) Current Opinion in Biotechnology  

The Dutch guide for probiotics (Aug 8, 2018) BMC Gastroenterology James Lind Award Opwijrda Award

The hygiene hypothesis revisited  (May 17, 2019) Ned Tijdschr Allergie

A healthy vagina with Lactobacillus crispatus (May 27, 2019) Microbiome  NRC

Acetic acid bacteria in sourdough (March 26, 2021)