Brief introduction:
I'm a senior scientist based at Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark at the Department of Microbiology and Infection Control.
Together with excellent colleagues, I have in few years contributed significantly to what today is known about Blastocystis, an intestinal parasite of unknown clinical significance colonising/infecting hundreds of millions of people in both developed and developing countries. I have published about 55 seminal and review articles in peer-reviewed, international journals focussing entirely or partly on Blastocystis.
During my PhD I took the initiative to standardise Blastocystis terminology and evaluate diagnostic methods; I managed to cross correlate and interpret a vast pool of molecular data from different research labs. Thanks to these efforts, researchers across the globe now employ the same terminology for Blastocystis, and a clear picture of the relative distribution of different subtypes in various cohorts in various countries is now building up.
I have detected and delineated several new species (ribosomal lineages) of protistan genera such as Entamoeba, Iodamoeba and Blastocystis, and I was the first ever to report on Dientamoeba fragilis in Denmark.
Output from my research has provided incentive for improving routine diagnosis of intestinal parasites and has resulted in the implementation of novel, DNA-based methods for the routine screening of patients with diarrhoea for intestinal parasites of clinical relevance. My research has had a major impact on current guidelines for the detection of intestinal parasites and offers a critical approach to the implementation of novel technology in different fields of clinical microbiology.
I have been able to attract substantial funding by myself and in collaboration with colleagues.
Ongoing research in our lab also includes a randomised controlled treatment study of Dientamoeba fragilis infections in children in Denmark.
I have supervised dozens of Bachelor and MSc students, and co-supervised PhD students.
Education:
- Bachelor of Medicine (University of Aarhus, Denmark)
- MSc in Parasitology (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)
- PhD in Health Sciences (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)
Training:
- Field work: WHO, Vientiane, Lao PDR (2003)
- PhD training at Murdoch University, Western Australia (2006)
- Post doc studies at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK (2009-2012)
Key research interests:
- Parasitology
- Mycology
- Clinical Microbiology
- Infectious Diseases
- Gastroenterology
Papers:
Close to 200 papers in national and international peer-reviewed journals
First paper appeared in 2006
H-index: 66 (Google Scholar)
M-index: 3.5
Grants obtained by myself:
2013: Brdr. Hartmanns Fond (Denmark), €12,000
2012: Lundbeck Foundation (Denmark), €200,000
2012: Marie Curie Career Reintegration Grant (EU), €100,000
2012: Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation, €15,000
2012: TRYG Fonden (Denmark), €46,000
2011: AP Møller Foundation (Denmark), €6,000
2009: Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation, €230,000
Prizes:
2013: Fritz Kauffmann Prize (Denmark), €10,000.
Extra-curricular activities:
- A history of several board memberships
- Associate Faculty Member of Faculty 1000.
- Reviewer for > 30 scientific journals, including CMR, JCM, IJP, Trends in Parasitology, Eurosurveillance.
Social media:
I've got an updated CV here.
ORCID # 0000-0002-1417-7048
I'm a senior scientist based at Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark at the Department of Microbiology and Infection Control.
Together with excellent colleagues, I have in few years contributed significantly to what today is known about Blastocystis, an intestinal parasite of unknown clinical significance colonising/infecting hundreds of millions of people in both developed and developing countries. I have published about 55 seminal and review articles in peer-reviewed, international journals focussing entirely or partly on Blastocystis.
During my PhD I took the initiative to standardise Blastocystis terminology and evaluate diagnostic methods; I managed to cross correlate and interpret a vast pool of molecular data from different research labs. Thanks to these efforts, researchers across the globe now employ the same terminology for Blastocystis, and a clear picture of the relative distribution of different subtypes in various cohorts in various countries is now building up.
I have detected and delineated several new species (ribosomal lineages) of protistan genera such as Entamoeba, Iodamoeba and Blastocystis, and I was the first ever to report on Dientamoeba fragilis in Denmark.
Output from my research has provided incentive for improving routine diagnosis of intestinal parasites and has resulted in the implementation of novel, DNA-based methods for the routine screening of patients with diarrhoea for intestinal parasites of clinical relevance. My research has had a major impact on current guidelines for the detection of intestinal parasites and offers a critical approach to the implementation of novel technology in different fields of clinical microbiology.
I have been able to attract substantial funding by myself and in collaboration with colleagues.
Ongoing research in our lab also includes a randomised controlled treatment study of Dientamoeba fragilis infections in children in Denmark.
I have supervised dozens of Bachelor and MSc students, and co-supervised PhD students.
Education:
- Bachelor of Medicine (University of Aarhus, Denmark)
- MSc in Parasitology (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)
- PhD in Health Sciences (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)
Training:
- Field work: WHO, Vientiane, Lao PDR (2003)
- PhD training at Murdoch University, Western Australia (2006)
- Post doc studies at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK (2009-2012)
Key research interests:
- Parasitology
- Mycology
- Clinical Microbiology
- Infectious Diseases
- Gastroenterology
Papers:
Close to 200 papers in national and international peer-reviewed journals
First paper appeared in 2006
H-index: 66 (Google Scholar)
M-index: 3.5
2013: Brdr. Hartmanns Fond (Denmark), €12,000
2012: Lundbeck Foundation (Denmark), €200,000
2012: Marie Curie Career Reintegration Grant (EU), €100,000
2012: Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation, €15,000
2012: TRYG Fonden (Denmark), €46,000
2011: AP Møller Foundation (Denmark), €6,000
2009: Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation, €230,000
Prizes:
2013: Fritz Kauffmann Prize (Denmark), €10,000.
Extra-curricular activities:
- A history of several board memberships
- Associate Faculty Member of Faculty 1000.
- Reviewer for > 30 scientific journals, including CMR, JCM, IJP, Trends in Parasitology, Eurosurveillance.
Social media:
I've got an updated CV here.
ORCID # 0000-0002-1417-7048
Page updated 19 AUG 2025
Dear Stensfold,
ReplyDeleteYour blog on Blastocystis looks very nice and is informative. What article would you recommend, in which it is proven that Blastocystis is directly associated with disease?
You mentioned in your blog that typing hasn't been extensively performed on samples from sub-Saharan Africa. If you are interested, I might know a collection of such fecal DNA that might be used for further research.
Regards,
@rjtenhove
Dear Robert,
ReplyDeletethank you for stopping by!
I'm afraid I have no such article to recommend. There are many theories, but one thing is a fact: A large proportion of the human population is colonised by Blastocystis, and most individuals do not suffer intestinal symptoms, at least over a longer period. Blastocystis has not been associated with any outbreak, invasivness has not been successfully demonstrated, and problems with chemotherapeutic treatment makes RCT studies difficult. Having said that, our French colleagues have published genome data, and Blastocystis does appear to encode potential virulence genes.
There are so many things, thoughts and theories to discuss, many of these have been touched upon elsewhere on this blog. Also many opportunities...
It's always interesting to look into subtype epidemiology. Please let me know if I can be of any assistance!
Cheers,
Rune
Hi, I just got diagnosed with having Blastocystis. I am writing to you because I thought maybe you would be interested in my symptoms.
ReplyDeleteFor Christmas and New Year's I was in Cancun, Mexico with my family. We had swam in the ocean and also in a cenote there. I have a feeling inside of me we were all infected in the Cenote. All of us have been experiencing symptoms since returning from Mexico but we all thought it to be from different causes. My situation is worse than everyone else in my family. After going to the emergency room at my local hospitals on two occasions since returning from Mexico and having X-rays, ultrasounds, blood work, CT Scan, CT with contract, angiogram, EKG, and urine tests, the doctors told me I had anxiety. The reason I went to the hospital is because I have extreme shortness of breath. I have never had this before. I never had asthma or any other symptoms. I literally woke up in the middle of the night gasping for air. Shortly after I began vomiting undigested food and acid so they said I had GERD and anxiety... I never had acidity before. I took all of the meds they gave me and nothing was helping. I had this weird feeling inside of me that was like an empty cold feeling and I just knew something wasn't right. I convinced my doctor to do stool tests in which they found the blastocysts. I had begun a metronidazole regimen right after I turned in my stool samples. I was taking it 3x a day for 7 days with no improvement at all. I did notice a slight improvement with Primal Defense probiotics. I take 3 a day but still feel shortness of breath and my gut is constantly making awful noises. My doctor has now prescribed me Nitazoxinide to take for 3 days with a refill for an additional 3 if it doesn't work. I will let you know how it goes, if you would like.
Thank you, Louise, for taking your time here on the blog, and for your description of your situation. I would like to reiterate that Blastocystis is a very common parasite, also in the Western world, an asymptomatic carriage is common, at least when it comes to the common subtypes. In case you never had stool tests done (for ova and parasites or some similar test) before you went to Mexico, it's impossible to know whether you were carrying Blastocystis with you to Mexico or you only caught it out there. Your account sounds to me almost like the description of a minor outbreak, which of course would be interesting to investigate in further detail. I wonder whether your family members are carrying Blastocystis too?! Feel free to post your experience on your treatment here. There is also the Blastocystis community on Facebook where you can share your story.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that I was starting to think of something else when I read your story, namely the possibility of you having been exposed to free living amoeba of some sort... However, I'm not sure about the salinity in the cenotes there in Mexico... maybe such amoebae cannot live there at all...
I am on day 4 now of the treatment and it's not working. I did happen to find a center in Australia that works with Blastocyst quite frequently. Maybe you would want to speak with them. Their treatments seem promising.
ReplyDeleteAbout the salinity in the cenotes, from what I gather, it is rather high and the water is not stagnant, it apparently runs through a labyrinth of under ground caves and the cenotes are sink holes from the ground down to the cave systems.
Here is the center in Australia:
http://www.cdd.com.au/
My daughters still have not been tested. They are charging us $450 for the tests and my doctor seems to think they must have what I have because the symptoms are very similar. Both of my daughters are now having shortness of breath, as well. We have extreme fatigue and our quality of life is drastically reduced from what it was prior to the symptoms appearing.
I'm going to try to get my doctor to communicate with this center in Australia and get their meds over here in the US to see if they will work. From what I understand from their page, they use enema like meds to eradicate the blastocysts.
I also found this page which has a plethora of comments from people all suffering with Blastocysts and many haven't been able to clear them from their systems:
http://www.badbugs.org/Blastocystis_hominis/MedicalMismanagement.htm
I sincerely hope people start taking this more seriously and no just shrugging it off. I am in pain and really suffering. I hope your research will assist in treating this protozoa nightmare.
Regards,
Louise