Rate My Professor Lisa van Sluijs

Lisa van Sluijs serves as Assistant Professor in the Laboratory of Nematology at Wageningen University & Research. Her research centers on the interactions between nematodes and their parasites, encompassing nematode-virus dynamics, bacteriophage vectoring, and host-pathogen relationships at individual, population, and community levels. She investigates how nematodes facilitate the dispersal of bacteriophages in compost and soil, exploring ecological, molecular, and evolutionary implications for microbial communities and soil health. Van Sluijs studies diversity-disease relationships in natural microscopic nematode communities, employing metabarcoding and field sampling to assess parasite prevalence. Additional foci include genetic diversity in plant-parasitic nematodes such as Globodera pallida, susceptibility of Caenorhabditis elegans to toxicants, virus effects on nematode reproduction and behavior, and population genetics. Her experimental approaches range from laboratory assays with model organisms to field studies in natural habitats.

In 2025, Lisa van Sluijs was awarded a VENI grant of up to €320,000 for her innovative project 'Take a ride with me? Catching the impact of virus hitchhiking in soil,' which examines how viruses hitchhike on nematodes to enhance spread, influencing microbial mortality and soil carbon storage. She leads key projects including 'Phage evolution in presence of superhosts: how do phages change when offered a ride?', 'Molecular basis of Plant-Parasitic Nematode-Virus interactions,' and 'Population genetics of plant parasitic nematodes.' As co-promotor, she supervises multiple PhD candidates on topics like nematode-phage hitchhiking and dietary restriction effects on lifespan. Van Sluijs collaborates extensively within Wageningen University & Research and internationally with researchers on nematode ecology, genetics, and evolution. Notable publications include 'Natural variation suggests candidate genes underlying Caenorhabditis elegans susceptibility to diverse toxicants' (Toxicological Sciences, 2026), 'Diversity–disease relationships in natural microscopic nematode communities' (Royal Society Open Science, 2025), 'Nematodes vector bacteriophages in compost and soil' (2025), and contributions to bacteriophage-nematode interactions and balancing selection in pathogen responses.