Michiel obtained a PhD from University Utrecht in 1995, and was subsequently employed at NIZO food research. Michiel’s research focusses on lactic acid bacteria, probiotics, and the microbiome in the mammalian gastrointestinal tract, which he combines with post-genomic analysis of mammalian responses, aiming to decipher the molecular cross-talk between host organisms and their gut-microbes. Since 2007 he has also been active as a professor at Wageningen University, has co-authored more than 300 peer-reviewed publications and is co-inventor on more than 20 patents.