Microbiome initiative

Recognize the gut as a source of health and disease 

Project Overview 

The Dutch Digestive Foundation (Maag Lever Darm Stichting, MLDS) is aiming for health improvement in the Dutch population through influencing the gut microbiome. The gut microbiome is the collection of microorganisms that live in the human digestive system (bacteria, viruses and other microbes).   

The MLDS has started an initiative to increase research collaboration in the Netherlands on the gut microbiome: to understand more about the microbiome and the potential ways to influence it for benefiting health. And to stimulate translation of scientific insights into solutions for the healthy population and/or for patients. This with the aim to reduce the occurrence of digestive complaints and to improve treatment of diseases that have (part of) their origin in the digestive system.  

The necessity: in the Netherlands 3.7 million people are known to have digestive complaints and 2 million are diagnosed with a digestive disorder (e.g. IBD and colorectal cancer). Furthermore, the intestines are the starting point for various disorders such as migraines and allergies, and diseases such as Parkinson's and depression. 

Action and Impact

In August 2021, the Maag Lever Darm Stichting (MLDS) asked Heartbeat Ventures to help develop  an early-stage initiative to increase research collaboration in the Netherlands on the gut microbiome. An important first step was to develop a partnership with two leading universities in the microbiome field: University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) and Wageningen University & Research (WUR) to become co-founders of a national scientific microbiome initiative​. 

We worked with a core team at MLDS to develop an initial blueprint of the initiative, a vision of the why, how and what, to serve as a starting point for exploring common ground with the scientific institutes. We helped the MLDS team to decide which steps to take towards engaging the leaders of UMCG and WUR. We developed a set of tools and effectively facilitated conversations with the key stakeholders, each conversation leading to constructive outcomes and follow up. 

In December 2021, at MLDS’ 40th anniversary, UMCG and WUR announced their positive intention and enthusiasm to become ‘founding mothers’ of a national gut microbiome research initiative, together with the MLDS.  

From January 2022 we were part of the core team that further developed the initiative: working to establish the enabling conditions for scientific collaboration; preparing to raise awareness, create momentum, develop a research agenda and a funding approach. All in co-creation with the founding mothers and with the leading microbiome researchers in the Netherlands. Our role was to guide and facilitate the process to come to fruitful collaboration.    
We held several sessions to co-create the impact- and research agenda and we helped to write a manifesto to describe the raison d’etre, vision and impact strategy for the national gut microbiome initiative. We prepared and facilitated the process of the official kick-off on the 30th of September 2022 in Wageningen. Key stakeholders from potential future partner organizations were invited, amongst funding partners as well as the Dutch Microbiome research field. At the kick-off the manifesto was presented and wider collaboration was started amongst researchers for the research agenda.

“Heartbeat Ventures helped us to structure, clarify and guide the complex process of working towards multi-stakeholder collaboration. They enabled the MLDS team to focus on the content rather than the process, thereby making it far more efficient for us to start up and build the Microbiome initiative.”

- Mark Bouwens (Senior advisor research and health & projectleader digestive health at MLDS)

Contact person: Annet Bruil & Liesbeth Scholten