The Andersen Lab is associated with the Dept. of Clinical Microbiology, Odense University Hospital and focuses on translating clinical and experimental research into new treatment regimens, diagnostic assays, and medical devices in collaboration with hospital departments and companies. We moreover investigate host-pathogen interactions using innovative, in-house established in vitro cell culture models and animal infection models.
Members
Thomas Emil Andersen, MSc, PhD, professor
Rune Micha Pedersen, MD, PhD, clin. assoc. prof., department specialist
Kristian Stærk, MD, PhD, postdoc
Ditte Rask Tornby, MSc, PhD student
Jens Sivkær Pettersen, MSc, PhD, postdoc
Line Lundegård Bang, MSc, biomedical laboratory scientist
Julie May Jensen, animal technician
Anna Damsbo Jensen, MSc, PhD, industrial postdoc
Kamilla Bou Færch, Laboratory technician
Interested in urinary tract infection? See our homepage on this topic here (Danish)
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Research focus
Hospital-acquired infections constitute a major problem in healthcare. In hospitals, the high concentration of infectious agents and susceptible patients creates optimal conditions for pathogenic bacteria and viruses. Often, implanted or indwelling medical devices serve as a nidus for bacterial growth, leading to device-associated infections. Prolonged antibiotic treatment can, moreover, lead to antimicrobial resistance, which may limit treatment options; resistant strains can also result in outbreaks that are difficult to control. Similarly, viruses thrive in hospital settings and typically manifest more severely and for longer durations in admitted patients.
At the Andersen Lab, we are a team of interdisciplinary researchers dedicated to investigating these infections. We have established a range of innovative in vitro models, including liquid flow-assisted cell-culture infection models, to support our research in urinary tract infection, intestinal infection, and intravascular infection. Using tube systems and flow chambers we simulate device-associated biofilm growth and study the underlying infection pathogenesis using advanced microscopy and genetic profiling. Hypotheses from in vitro work are tested in our comprehensive platform of in vivo animal infection models, comprising mouse, pig and sheep models of implant-associated infections, and mouse and pig models of urinary tract infection.
Lastly, the Andersen Lab governs the region’s only BSL-3 virus culturing facility which we used extensively during the COVID-19 pandemic to study the effect of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. Now, our special expertise in culturing and handling contagious airway viruses is used to study antiviral agents against SARs-CoV-2, RSV and influenza, and to evaluate the contagiousness of patients infected with these viruses.
Ongoing projects
In this project, funded by the European Union and The Innovation Fund Denmark, we collaborate with the Danish Fundamental Metrology Institute, the Danish company LightNovo and the Lithuanian company Standa to develop a miniaturized Raman spectrometer for identification of bacterial infections in wounds. Wound infection is a considerable risk factor especially after surgical procedures and in immune-compromized patients. Fast and reliable identification of pathogenic bacteria in wounds is therefore of utmost importance. This project aims to build a handheld Raman instrument that enables immediate detection of infections in wounds, using novel miniaturized Raman technology coupled with machine learning software.
The project is supported by the EU EUREKA - Eurostars Programme and runs from March 2023 to August 2025.
TELEGRAFT is a multi-disciplinary project involving 10 international partners from, Germany, Lithuania, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Denmark. Launched in late 2022, the project aims to develop a novel tissue- and blood compatible vascular graft for dialysis. Our tasks in this project are to co-develop antibacterial and tissue-integration properties of the graft, and assist the development of an integrated Raman sensor. Read more about the project here.
The project is supported with 4.8M€ by the European Union and runs until Dec. 2027.
The project is supported by the EU EUREKA - Eurostars Programme and runs until March 2027.
In the project we analyze the viral load and virus neutralization capacity in COVID-19 hospitalized patients as well as in citizens. To do so, we have established one of DK’s only SARS-CoV-2 experimental laboratories at the facilities of Winsløwparken, Odense, DK. Here, patient/citizen samples are cultured, and viral load and neutralization capacity estimated based on plaque assays and plaque reduction neutralisation tests. Throughout 2020-2023 we have analyzed more than 600 patient samples and assisted the assessment of whether contagious virus is present in these persons. In 2021-23, our focus has been assessments of the effect of the COVID-19 vaccines on neutralization capacity in vulnerable patient groups such as kidney- and cancer patients. Lastly, we have investigated the protection provided by the vaccines in healthy individuals against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.
During 2020-2023 the project has been funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the Region of Southern Denmark, and the Danish Ministry og Higher Education and Science.
Since 2023 we have analyzed the contagion risk among influenza patients to evaluate the need for patient isolation. This project is funded by the Region of Southern Denmark.
This project aims to elucidate the pathogenesis associated with Clostridium difficile intestinal infection. This organism is a major problem at hospitals worldwide, due to its resistance towards many antibiotics. Patients treated with antibiotics often lose their normal intestinal flora, leaving ideal conditions for C. diff. As a consequence, patients may become chronically infected with C. diff., resulting in significant morbidity among these patients. Using the in vitro intestinal infection models developed by the Clinical Biofilm Group, the colonization mechanisms by C. diff. are investigated and novel treatment regimens are developed and tested.
The project is funded by the Innovation Fund Denmark, the Novo Nordisk Foundation and by the University of Southern Denmark and the Region of Southern Denmark’s proof-of-concept funds.
Recently finalized projects
The project utilized the research groups’ flow-chamber based intestinal infection model to assess the colonization efficiency of selected outbreak VRE strains. By doing so, we aimed to assess the hypothesis, that certain outbreak VRE strains are specifically competent in rapid colonization of the human intestine, and that this might explain their uncontrolled spread in hospital departments.
The project was funded by the OUH Research Fund and the Region of Southern Denmark.
A cross-disciplinary project in which the Clinical Biofilm Group collaborated with the Danish Fundamental Metrology Institute (DK), BacAlert IVS (DK) and art photonics GmbH (DE) with the common goal of developing next generation technology for fast identification of pathogenic bacteria.
The project was funded by the European Union EUREKA programme.
The project was funded by EU’s Horizon 2020 Eurostars program.
In this EU-funded project we collaborate with the SDU-spinoff GlyProVac (DK), Fraunhofer (DE) og Epitopic GmbH (DE) to develop and perform pre-clinical tests of a novel vaccine candidate against recurrent urinary tract infection. Preclinical evaluation is performed in our porcine UTI model.
The project is supported by the EU EUREKA - Eurostars Programme and runs until March 2024.
Project cooperation with Biomodics ApS (DK) and Venair Iberica SA (ES). Funded by the Horizon 2020 Eurostars Programme. In the project, a novel anti-infection balloon urinary catheter was developed.
The project was funded by European Unions’ Horizon 2020 Eurostars programme.
The project has ended. Main results from the project were recently published.
Publications
Stærk K, Andersen K, Hjelmager JS, Jensen LK, Jørgensen BM, Møller-Jensen J, Lund L, Andersen TE. Effect of Bladder Catheterization On Bacterial Interference With Asymptomatic Escherichia coli Strain 83972 in an Experimental Porcine Model of Urinary Tract Infection J. Infect. Dis. 2025;231(2):e355-e363.
Egle K, Andersen TE, Lindholt J, Stubbe, J. Daily fenugreek intake does not attenuate abdominal aortic aneurysm growth in rats. Vasa. 2025 Mar 5. doi: 10.1024/0301-1526/a001185. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40042160.
Bach ML, Laftih S, Andresen JK, Pedersen RM, Andersen TE, Madsen LW, Madsen K, Hinrichs GR, Zachar R, Svenningsen P, Lund L, Johansen IS, Hansen LF, Palarasah Y, Jensen BL. ACE2 and TMPRSS2 in human kidney tissue and urine extracellular vesicles with age, sex and COVID-19. Pflugers Arch. 2025 Jan;477(1):83-98.
Bay AC, Clausen MR, Røge BT, Sydenham TV, Steinke K, Pedersen RM, Bang LL, Andersen TE, Jensen A, Madsen LW. Antiviral combination treatment of SARS-1 CoV-2 after repeated 2 treatment failures of remdesivir monotherapy: a case report. IDCases 2024 Nov 13;38:e02118.
Stærk K, Heidtmann CV, Hjelmager JS, Nielsen CU, Nielsen P, Andersen TE. The infectious capacity of Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus saprophyticus in a porcine model of urinary tract infection. APMIS. 2024, 132(11):807-813.
Bang LL, Madsen LW, Pedersen RM, Nilsson AC, Johansen IS, Andersen TE. Sotrovimab lost neutralization efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 subvariants but remained clinically effective: were monoclonal antibodies against COVID-19 rejected too early? J Infect Public Health. 2024;17(9):102512.
Peterson E, Soderstrom B, Prins N, Le GHB, Hartley-Tassell LE, Evenhuis C, Grønnemose RB, Andersen TE, Møller-Jensen J, Iosifidis G, Duggin IG, Saunders B, Harry EJ, Bottomley AL. The role of bacterial size, shape and surface in macrophage engulfment of uropathogenic E. coli cells. PLoS Pathog. 2024, 6;20(9):e1012458.
Beagan L, Bang LL, Grønnemose RB, Foertsch S, Andersen TE, Ding M. Fucoidans from Laminaria Hyperborea demonstrate bactericidal activity against diverse bacteria. J Appl Phycol 2024; 36: 2199–2208.
Heidtmann C, Fejer A, Stærk Kristian, Maria P, Asmussen M, Hertz F, Prabhala BK, Frimodt-Møller N, Klitgaard JK, Andersen TE, Nielsen C, Nielsen P. Hit-to-lead Identification and Validation of a Triaromatic Pleuromutilin Antibiotic Candidate. J Med Chem. 2024 Mar 14;67(5):3692-3710.
Bang LL, Tornby DS, Pham STD, Assing K, Palarasah Y, Madsen LW, Thomsen KG, Johansen I, Pedersen RM, Andersen TE. Culturing of SARS-CoV-2 from patient samples: protocol for optimal virus recovery and assessment of infectious viral load. J Virol Methods. 2024 May;326:114912.
Ilchenko O, Pilhun Y, Kutsyk A, Slobodianiuk D, Goksel Y, Dumont E, Vaut L, Mazzoni C, Morelli L, Rindzevicius T, Andersen TE, Lassen M, Thomsen BL, Mundhada H, Jendresen CB, Philipsen PA, Hædersdal M, Boisen A. Optics miniaturization strategy for demanding Raman spectroscopy applications. Nat Commun. 2024;15(1):3049.
Beagan ML, Dreyer CH, Jensen LK, Jensen HE, Andersen TE, Overgaard SO, Ding M. The potential of sheep in preclinical models for bone infection research – a systematic review. J Orthop Translat. 2024;45:120-131.
Riber SS, Clausen LL, Dahl M, Riber LP, Andersen TE, Lindholt JS. Experimental comparative study of a novel drug-eluting arteriovenous graft in a sheep model. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2024;11:1341154.
Schrøder B, Tentor F, Miclăuș T, Stærk K, Andersen TE, Spinelli M, Rendeli C, Del Popolo G, Bagi P, Nielsen, LF. New micro-hole zone catheter reduces residual urine and mucosal microtrauma in a lower urinary tract model. Sci Rep. 2024, 14, 2268.
Stærk K, Schrøder B, Jensen LK, Andersen TE, Nielsen LF. Catheter-associated bladder mucosal trauma during intermittent voiding: an experimental study in pigs. BJUI Compass. 2024;5:217–223.
Grønnemose RB, Tornby DR, Riber SS, Hjelmager JS, Riber LPS, Lindholt JS, Andersen TE. An antibiotic-loaded silicone-hydrogel interpenetrating polymer network for prevention of surgical site infections. Gels. 2023; 9(10):826.
Kern K, Delaroque N, Boysen A, Puder M, Wendt R, Kölsch A, Ehrentreich-Förster E, Stærk K, Andersen TE, Andersen K, Lund L and Szardenings M. Glycosylation of bacterial antigens changes epitope patterns. Front. Immunol. 2023. 14:1258136.
Rasmussen M, Møller FT, Baig S, Bennedbæk M, Christiansen LE, Cohen AS, Ellegaard K, Fomsgaard A, Franck KT, Gunalan V, Larsen NB, Larsen TG, Lassaunière R, Polacek C, Qvesel AG, Sieber RN, Rasmussen LD, Stegger M, Spiess K, Tang ME, Vestergaard LS, Andersen TE, Hoegh SV, Pedersen RM, Skov MN, Steinke K, Sydenham TV, Hoppe M, Nielsen L, Krause TG, Ullum H, Jokelainen P. First cases of SARS-CoV-2 BA.2.86 in Denmark, 2023. Eurosurveillance. 2023 Sep 7; 28(36): 2300460.
Stærk K, Jensen, LK, Andersen TE. Evaluation of urine dipstick tests in experimental porcine urinary tract infection with uropathogenic Escherichia coli. Sci Rep 13, 12404 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-39239-7.
Pedersen RM, Bang LL, Holm DK, Madsen LW, Johansen IS, Jensen TG, Justesen US, Bistrup C, Andersen TE. Serum Neutralization of Omicron XBB.1.5 in Kidney Transplant Recipients After Bivalent mRNA Booster Vaccination. Kidney International Reports. 2023 May 26;8(8):1665–8. doi: 10.1016/j.ekir.2023.05.020.