Barbara Verhaar

Barbara Verhaar

Postdoctoral Researcher

Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

About Me

I am a medical doctor with a strong interest in research. People around me describe me as hard-working, analytical, responsible and social.

My eagerness to learn has led to a diverse skill set, spanning clinical research, bioinformatics, and wet lab work. I particularly enjoy translational projects.

My primary interest is in host-microbe-environment interactions, especially in the context of cardiometabolic disease.

Clinical Research

  • Clinical trial design & IRB approval
  • Patient organization & follow-up
  • Consortia experience (incl. Leducq)

Bioinformatics

  • Nextflow workflows for microbiome sequencing
  • 16S and shotgun metagenomics
  • HPC computing

Statistics & ML

  • XGBoost machine learning models
  • Metabolomics & proteomics
  • Transcriptomics & microbiome analyses

Wet Lab

  • Cell culture & ibidi flow models
  • TEER & Seahorse assays
  • qPCR, Western blotting, ELISAs

Programming

  • R, Python, Bash
  • Nextflow
  • PHP, CSS/HTML

Reproducibility

  • Version control (Git, renv, conda)
  • Software containers
  • Apptainer & Docker

Experience & Education

2023 - Present

Postdoctoral Researcher

Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, NL

Department of Public and Occupational Health, Department of Vascular Medicine. Four microbiome projects on the interactions between the environment, the microbiome and the host in different cohort studies.

2025

Visiting Researcher

DKFZ, Heidelberg, Germany

Research visit to the Elinav lab to work on bioinformatics projects including surface protein prediction and longitudinal microbiome analyses.

2022

Visiting Researcher

Charité Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany

Research visit to the Haghikia/Landmesser lab. Learned ibidi flow models and seahorse assays. Contributed to two projects with transcriptomics analyses.

2019 - 2023

PhD Candidate

Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, NL

Department of Experimental Vascular Medicine, Geriatrics, and the Alzheimer Center Amsterdam. Thesis: 'Of microbes and metabolites, exploring new pathways in hypertension and Alzheimer's disease'

2015 - 2019

Master's Degree Medicine

University of Amsterdam

Thesis: 'Nutritional status and structural brain changes in MCI, AD and controls'. Honours programme certificate.

2014 - 2015

Master of Science Vitality and Ageing

Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing

Master programme on ageing, with demography, anthropology, management, leadership, and gerontology courses.

2010 - 2014

Bachelor's Degree Medicine

University of Amsterdam

Thesis: 'Epilepsy and cognition in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex: a retrospective study'

Selected Publications

2025

Gut microbiota as predictors of recurrent cardiovascular events: challenges and future directions

B.J.H. Verhaar, M. Nieuwdorp, B.J.H. van den Born

European Heart Journal

2025

Machine learning analysis of sex and menopausal differences in the gut microbiome in the HELIUS study

E.M.C. Vriend, H. Galenkamp, ..., B.J.H. van den Born, B.J.H. Verhaar

npj Biofilms and Microbiomes

2024

Effects of oral butyrate on blood pressure in patients with hypertension: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial

B.J.H. Verhaar, M. Wijdeveld, ..., M. Nieuwdorp, M. Muller

Hypertension

2023

Sex differences in associations of plasma metabolites with blood pressure and heart rate variability: The HELIUS study

B.J.H. Verhaar, C.M. Mosterd, ..., M. Nieuwdorp, B.J.H. van den Born

Atherosclerosis

2020

Associations between gut microbiota, faecal short-chain fatty acids, and blood pressure across ethnic groups: the HELIUS study

B.J.H. Verhaar, D. Collard, ..., M. Nieuwdorp, B.J.H. van den Born

European Heart Journal

Grants & Awards

€320,000

NWO Veni Grant

2025

The salty gut: on the crosstalk between sodium homeostasis and the gut microbiome. Translational project on the salt resistome and the effect on blood pressure regulation.

€140,000

ACS Talent Grant

2024

Uncovering the salt-resistant microbiome. Developed a pipeline for salt resistance genes in metagenomics data using the HELIUS cohort.

€25,000

ACS Out of the Box Grant

2021

The role of formylmethionine in blood pressure regulation. Investigation of effects in vitro based on machine learning analyses.

Awards

🏆
Young Investigator Award

Dutch Hypertension Society, 2022

🏆
Best Oral Presentation

European Society of Hypertension Congress, 2022

Teaching & Supervision

Student Supervision

Supervised three bachelor and three master students during PhD. Currently supervising one PhD student.

Lecturing

Delivered four lectures to medical students about cardiovascular aging.

Course Organization

Organized the minor Cardiovascular Aging for second year medical school students.

Committee Work

Contact

Interested in collaborating or have a question? Send me a message.

📍 Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands