I am Professor of Microbiome and Systems Biology at Nottingham Trent University, and a Visting Professor in the Department of Surgery & Cancer, Imperial College London. My research team's work focuses on host–microbiota interactions, combining microbiology and bioinformatics approaches in vitro and in vivo to understand how members of the gastrointestinal microbiota function and influence human health and disease.
I have specific expertise in microaerobic and anaerobic microbiology, in vitro fermenation systems and the processing and analyses of various types of omics data (microbiomic, transcriptomic, metabolomic, genomic). Using integrated systems-level approaches, I have defined the contribution of the mammalian gut microbiota and its metabolites to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, metabolic retroconversion and integrity of the blood–brain barrier. My microbiology research focuses on functional genomics of Klebsiella and Collinsella spp., and understanding how these bacteria respond to physiologically relevant growth conditions. I am also working on the culturable microbiota of the upper gastrointestinal tract, using the large curated culture collection I have developed to better understand microbe–microbe and microbe–host interactions in the stomach and small intestine.
My team's research has been/is funded by Guts UK, Diabetes UK, EU Horizon 2020, Healthcare Infection Society, Cancer Research UK, Pancreatic Cancer UK, Royal Society, The Academy of Medical Sciences, Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, Medical Research Council, Alzheimer's Research UK, GlaxoSmithKline, Microbiology Society, British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, Egyptian Government – Ministry of Higher Education/Egyptian Cultural and Education Bureau, and the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology. I am currently a co-lead of the BBSRC-funded innovation network MICROBiOME-NET.
Current research team members
Onnicha Leelastwattanagul (PhD)
Durva Raut (PhD)
Het Gajjar (part-time Research Assistant)
Pallavi Arya (Clinical Research Fellow, PhD)
Previous research team members
Dr Anne McCartney (Research Associate)
Dr Mohamed Eladawy (PhD)
Devarsh Dave (MRes)
Dr Samuel Dawson (PhD)
Dr Preetha Shibu (PhD)
Dr Fiona Newberry (Research Associate)
Lacksita John (MRes)
Pooja Bisht (MRes)
Elizabeth Roberts (MRes)
Sara Garnett (MRes)
Elena Palacios Amaral (MRes)
Yuhao Chen (MRes)
Mr Harry Dean (Clinical Research Fellow, MD)
Ms Stella Dilke (Clinical Research Fellow, PhD)
Joshua Brunt (undergraduate summer studentship)
Zak Vincent (undergraduate summer studentship)
Daniel Peters (MBiol)
Dean Hill (MBiol)
I have specific expertise in microaerobic and anaerobic microbiology, in vitro fermenation systems and the processing and analyses of various types of omics data (microbiomic, transcriptomic, metabolomic, genomic). Using integrated systems-level approaches, I have defined the contribution of the mammalian gut microbiota and its metabolites to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, metabolic retroconversion and integrity of the blood–brain barrier. My microbiology research focuses on functional genomics of Klebsiella and Collinsella spp., and understanding how these bacteria respond to physiologically relevant growth conditions. I am also working on the culturable microbiota of the upper gastrointestinal tract, using the large curated culture collection I have developed to better understand microbe–microbe and microbe–host interactions in the stomach and small intestine.
My team's research has been/is funded by Guts UK, Diabetes UK, EU Horizon 2020, Healthcare Infection Society, Cancer Research UK, Pancreatic Cancer UK, Royal Society, The Academy of Medical Sciences, Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, Medical Research Council, Alzheimer's Research UK, GlaxoSmithKline, Microbiology Society, British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, Egyptian Government – Ministry of Higher Education/Egyptian Cultural and Education Bureau, and the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology. I am currently a co-lead of the BBSRC-funded innovation network MICROBiOME-NET.
Current research team members
Onnicha Leelastwattanagul (PhD)
Durva Raut (PhD)
Het Gajjar (part-time Research Assistant)
Pallavi Arya (Clinical Research Fellow, PhD)
Previous research team members
Dr Anne McCartney (Research Associate)
Dr Mohamed Eladawy (PhD)
Devarsh Dave (MRes)
Dr Samuel Dawson (PhD)
Dr Preetha Shibu (PhD)
Dr Fiona Newberry (Research Associate)
Lacksita John (MRes)
Pooja Bisht (MRes)
Elizabeth Roberts (MRes)
Sara Garnett (MRes)
Elena Palacios Amaral (MRes)
Yuhao Chen (MRes)
Mr Harry Dean (Clinical Research Fellow, MD)
Ms Stella Dilke (Clinical Research Fellow, PhD)
Joshua Brunt (undergraduate summer studentship)
Zak Vincent (undergraduate summer studentship)
Daniel Peters (MBiol)
Dean Hill (MBiol)
“‘The message may be in an unusual medium,’ Pieter said. ‘It might lie in the precise pattern of flecks in the iris of one eye, or in one of her finger-prints, or in the disposition of her intestinal flora, or even in her own genetic code.’”
– Feersum Endjinn by Iain M. Banks, published 1995.
– Feersum Endjinn by Iain M. Banks, published 1995.
