Gut and host health

What we do

We advance sustainable animal production by improving animal health, reducing disease transmission, and minimising antimicrobial use. Our interdisciplinary research spans infection microbiology, food microbiology, immunology, pathology, One Health, zoonoses, and antimicrobial resistance. We also investigate how diet components, particularly carbohydrates, influences gut health and immunity, and use cell-based models to study host-pathogen interactions and cellular agriculture.re.

Our primary focus areas

One Health

Enhancing gut resilience through targeted nutrition to reduce antibiotic use and combat antimicrobial resistance.
Investigating disease transmission between livestock, pets, wildlife, and humans.

Nutrition and Gut Microbiota

Modulating host-microbiota interactions to improve animal health and welfare.
Studying the relationship between nutrients, microbiota, gut mucosa, and immune function.
Exploring the antimicrobial, gastrointestinal, and metabolic effects of nutritional and bioactive compounds.
Supporting gut maturation across life stages to promote long-term health.
Shaping gut microbiota to reduce the environmental and climate impact of livestock production.

Veterinary Pathology & Infection Microbiology

Providing advanced veterinary diagnostics using morphological, molecular, and biochemical techniques.
Identifying health and disease biomarkers through omics, glycomics, bioinformatics, and analytical tools.
Investigating host-pathogen interactions using animal models of infectious disease.
Studying infection biology and immune regulation to develop robust animals and effective vaccines.

Cell Biology & Organoid Research

Exploring the health benefits of bioactive food and feed compounds using cell biology approaches.
Developing cellular agriculture technologies, including in vitro milk production.
Using organoids to study host-pathogen and pathogen-pathogen interactions.
Applying in vitro models (diet, digesta, tissue, cell, and organoid) in line with the Three Rs principles (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement).