Erwin Zoetendal (1971) studied Biology with Microbial Ecology as specialty at the University of Groningen. Afterwards, he got his Ph.D. in 2001 on research focused on molecular characterization of bacterial communities in the human gastrointestinal tract at Wageningen University. After performing postdoc research at the University of Kuopio, Finland and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA, Erwin returned as a postdoc at the Laboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University & Research. Since October 2015 he is associate professor at the Laboratory of Microbiology and leading the research group Microbiome, Lumen & Diet. His main research interests include deciphering the concepts underlying the ecology of microbes, notably those in the human intestine.

Erwin is a well-recognized expert in intestinal microbiology and has multiple publications in peer-reviewed journals (Google Scholar Dec 2020: >40,000 citations; h-index 68) and textbooks. He has given numerous lectures at international and local meetings, including the Rome Foundation AGA Institute Lectureship at the Digestive Disease Week 2010. He is an elected member of the Rome Foundation as well as member of the editorial boards of several international journals. From December 2014 Erwin received a honorary appointment of guest professor at Nanjing Agricultural University in China.