Jacco Bastings was a PhD student at the department of Human Biology. His research focused on the effects of long-term artificial sweetener use on the gut microbiome as well as on gut-brain communication. Jacco predominantly performed clinical research in an in vivo setting. In 2017, he received his BSc in Biomedical Sciences (cum laude) at Maastricht University. Two years later, Jacco finished his master in Biomedical Sciences at Maastricht University and graduated cum laude.