dr. ing. G. (Girbe) Buist

Girbe Buist is an Assistant Professor in the research group Molecular Bacteriology of Prof. Jan Maarten van Dijl within the Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection prevention of the University of Groningen (RU) and the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), the Netherlands, since 2010. He obtained his Ba.Sc. in Biotechnology at the Rijkshogeschool in Groningen in 1988 and his Ph.D. in mathematics and natural sciences in 1997 at the RU within the research group Molecular Genetics of professor Gerard Venema. The title of his thesis was ‘AcmA of Lactococcus lactis, a cell-binding major autolysin’. He was a postdoctoral research fellow in the laboratories of Prof. Gerard Venema, Prof. Oscar Kuipers and Prof. Jan Maarten van Dijl at the RU. Dr. Buist his research is focused on fundamental and applied aspects of protein secretion and sorting in Gram-positive bacteria such as Bacillus subtilis, Lactococcus lactis and Staphylococcus aureus. His important achievements include the characterization and application the non-covalent peptidoglycan binding domain ‘LysM’ for the surface display of proteins on Gram-positive bacteria in a non-GMO manner for instance in vaccine development. For this purpose an heterologous protein expression and isolation pipeline using L. lactis has been optimized. Currently he is applying this knowledge in the development of immune treatments against S. aureus infections. Using these tools he and his colleagues isolated several human monoclonal antibodies which are being tested for treatment and in vivo detection. His research has resulted in several patents.

Since 2010 Dr. Buist has initiated, coordinated and given different courses such as Medical Microbiology, Infection prevention, proposal/thesis/grant writing. He has setup online manuals for lab practical’s and peer feedback for different assignments. Since 2019 he is coordinator of the Scientific training competency learning line of the bachelor of Medical Education at the UMCG and course director of the bachelor projects for third year medical students.