NAmur Research Institute for LIfe Sciences
Olivier Denis
Molecular epidemiology and antimicrobial resistance
Prof. Olivier Denis PhD
CHU UCL Namur, Site Godinne, Department of Clinical Microbiology
Head of the National Reference Center for Antibiotic-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacilli
Head of the National Reference Center for Helicobacter pylori
Member of Institute of Experimental and Clinical Research (IREC), UCLouvain
ORCID | ResearchGate | LinkedIn
Expertise and research interests
Olivier DENIS is medical doctor specialized in clinical microbiology with a special interest in antimicrobial resistance and infection control. He defended his PhD thesis in biomedical sciences entitled “Contribution to the molecular epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in Belgian populations”. From 2010 to 2016, he was head of bacteriology at the department of clinical microbiology of Erasme hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. Olivier DENIS was director of the National Reference Centre for staphylococci. Between 2016 and 2019, he was appointed Head of Microbiology and Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) at Delta Hospital.
In 2019, Dr Olivier Denis has joined as Chef de Laboratoire the microbiology and molecular microbiology laboratory within the Clinical Biology Department of the CHU UCL Namur (site Godinne). He also works part-time as IPC practitioner at the CHU.
His main current interests and fields of research focus on molecular epidemiology and antimicrobial resistance of bacteria, particularly Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aerigunosa and Enterobacteriaceae in different populations in hospitals, nursing homes, community and animals. His other research topics and expertise are the diagnosis of infectious diseases in severe ill and immunosuppressed patients and cystic fibrosis patients.
Olivier Denis is a professor at UMons and ULB where he teaches clinical microbiology and environmental bio-contaminants at the Faculty of Medicine and the School of Public Health. He participates in the teaching of several inter-university certificates including that of "clinical microbiology and infectious diseases" and “antimicrobial stewardship”.
Research projects
- Elaboration de techniques rapides pour l’identification des pathogènes et leurs mécanismes de résistance et évaluation de leur impact dans le traitement des patients à l’hôpital. Dr. Sandrine Roisin, ULB. Under the supervision of
- Integrating and molecular epidemiology to determine the effectiveness of a screen-and-treat strategy for asymptomatic bacteriuria after kidney transplantation. PhD thesis defended by Dr. Julien Coussement in December 2019, ULB.
Selected publications
Bélik F, Deckers C, Khourssaji M, Huang TD, Denis O, Montesinos I. Comparative assessment of Sensititre YeastOne and Micronaut-AM EUCAST for antifungal susceptibility testing in candidaemia isolates. J Mycol Med. 2024 Mar;34(1):101465.
Oliver A, Rojo-Molinero E, Arca-Suarez J, Beşli Y, Bogaerts P, Cantón R, Cimen C, Croughs PD, Denis O, Giske CG, Graells T, Daniel Huang TD, Iorga BI, Karatuna O, Kocsis B, Kronenberg A, López-Causapé C, Malhotra-Kumar S, Martínez LM, Mazzariol A, Meyer S, Naas T, Notermans DW, Oteo-Iglesias J, Pedersen T, Pirš M, Poeta P, Poirel L, Pournaras S, Sundsfjord A, Szabó D, Tambić-Andrašević A, Vatcheva-Dobrevska R, Vitkauskienė A, Jeannot K; ESGARS-ISARPAE members. Pseudomonas aeruginosa antimicrobial susceptibility profiles, resistance mechanisms and international clonal lineages: update from ESGARS-ESCMID/ISARPAE Group. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2023 Dec 29:S1198-743X(23)00634-1.
Maschietto C, Otto G, Rouzé P, Debortoli N, Bihin B, Nyinkeu L, Denis O, Huang TD, Mullier F, Bogaerts P, Degosserie J. Minimal requirements for ISO15189 validation and accreditation of three next generation sequencing procedures for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance in clinical setting. Sci Rep. 2023 Apr 28;13(1):6934.
Soleimani R, Deckers C, Huang TD, Bogaerts P, Evrard S, Wallemme I, Habib B, Rouzé P, Denis O. Rapid COVID-19 antigenic tests: Usefulness of a modified method for diagnosis. J Med Virol. 2021 Sep;93(9):5655-5659.
Percier P, De Prins S, Tima G, Beyaert R, Grooten J, Romano M, Denis O. Aspergillus fumigatus Recognition by Dendritic Cells Negatively Regulates Allergic Lung Inflammation through a TLR2/MyD88 Pathway. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2021 Jan;64(1):39-49.
Heinrichs A, Argudín MA, De Mendonça R, Deplano A, Roisin S, Dodémont M, Coussement J, Filippin L, Dombrecht J, De Bruyne K, Huang TD, Supply P, Byl B, Glupczynski Y, Denis O. An Outpatient Clinic as a Potential Site of Transmission for an Outbreak of New Delhi Metallo-β-Lactamase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae Sequence Type 716: A Study Using Whole-genome Sequencing. Clin Infect Dis. 2019 Mar 5;68(6):993-1000.
Coussement J, Argudín MA, Heinrichs A, Racapé J, de Mendonça R, Nienhaus L, Le Moine A, Roisin S, Dodémont M, Jacobs F, Abramowicz D, Johnston BD, Johnson JR, Denis O. Host and microbial factors in kidney transplant recipients with Escherichia coli acute pyelonephritis or asymptomatic bacteriuria: a prospective study using whole-genome sequencing. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2019 May 1;34(5):878-885.
Vincent M, Romano M, Corazza F, Huygen K, Michel O, Denis O. Development of a Dot-Blot Assay for the Detection of Mould-Specific IgE in the Belgian Population. Mycopathologia. 2017 Apr;182(3-4):319-329.
Montesinos I, Delforge ML, Ajjaham F, Brancart F, Hites M, Jacobs F, Denis O. Evaluation of a new commercial real-time PCR assay for diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia and identification of dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) mutations. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2017 Jan;87(1):32-36.
Deplano A, Vandendriessche S, Nonhoff C, Dodémont M, Roisin S, Denis O. National surveillance of Staphylococcus epidermidis recovered from bloodstream infections in Belgian hospitals. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2016 Jul;71(7):1815-9.
Nagant C, Deplano A, Nonhoff C, De Mendonça R, Roisin S, Dodémont M, Denis O. Low prevalence of mupirocin resistance in Belgian Staphylococcus aureus isolates collected during a 10 year nationwide surveillance. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2016 Jan;71(1):266-7.
Heinrichs A, Nonhoff C, Roisin S, De Mendonça R, Adam AS, Dodémont M, Denis O. Comparison of two chromogenic media and enrichment broth for the detection of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae on screening rectal swabs from hospitalized patients. J Med Microbiol. 2016 May;65(5):438-441.
Catry B, Latour K, Jans B, Vandendriessche S, Preal R, Mertens K, Denis O. Risk factors for methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus: a multi-laboratory study. PLoS One. 2014 Feb 26;9(2):e89579.
Deplano A, Vandendriessche S, Nonhoff C, Denis O. Genetic diversity among methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates carrying the mecC gene in Belgium. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2014 Jun;69(6):1457-60.
Denis O, Nonhoff C, Dowzicky MJ. Antimicrobial susceptibility among Gram-positive and Gram-negative isolates collected in Europe between 2004 and 2010. J Glob Antimicrob Resist. 2014 Sep;2(3):155-161.
Dodémont M, De Mendonça R, Nonhoff C, Roisin S, Denis O. Performance of the Verigene Gram-negative blood culture assay for rapid detection of bacteria and resistance determinants. J Clin Microbiol. 2014 Aug;52(8):3085-7.
Filippin L, Roisin S, Nonhoff C, Vandendriessche S, Heinrichs A, Denis O. Evaluation of the automated Vitek 2 system for detection of various mechanisms of macrolide and lincosamide resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. J Clin Microbiol. 2014 Nov;52(11):4087-9.
Vandendriessche S, Vanderhaeghen W, Larsen J, de Mendonça R, Hallin M, Butaye P, Hermans K, Haesebrouck F, Denis O. High genetic diversity of methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) from humans and animals on livestock farms and presence of SCCmec remnant DNA in MSSA CC398. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2014 Feb;69(2):355-62.
