Events
IGI Seminar Series: Systems Ecology of the human microbiome highlights functional disruptions in disease
Summary
The human microbiome, through its emergent properties, contributes essential functions to its host. Recent large-scale metagenomic studies have provided insights into its functional potential but have mostly focused on taxa-centric views. However, the functional repertoire which is actually contributed to human physiology remains largely unexplored. For example, the human microbiome produces a complex biomolecular cocktail in the form of small molecules, nucleic acids, and (poly-)peptides, recently defined as the expobiome. This cocktail has many bioactive properties but these have so far eluded systematic study. This overall gap in knowledge is limiting our understanding of the role of the human microbiome in governing human physiology and how changes to the microbiome impact chronic diseases including metabolic and neurological conditions through the triggering and exacerbation of disease pathways. Furthermore, without mechanistic understanding of the microbiome’s molecular complex, we are unable to rationally design microbiome-targeted therapies. In this context, the microbiome also represents a treasure trove for leads for the development of future diagnostic and therapeutic applications for chronic diseases. I will describe the current state of understanding of the functional microbiome in contrast to taxonomic views with a specific focus on disruptions of microbiome-based functions in disease. Ranging from systematic integrated multi-omic analyses of the microbiome-borne molecular complex to mechanistic studies in novel experimental systems, a clear roadmap towards translating the functional ecology of the gut microbiome into novel diagnostic applications and drugs will be drawn.
Speaker
Paul Wilmes is Full Professor of Systems Ecology and holds appointments at the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) and in the Department of Life Sciences and Medicine within the Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine of the University of Luxembourg. As a British Chevening Scholar, Paul Wilmes earned his PhD from the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia in Norwich (UK) in 2006. For part of his doctoral research, he spent time as a German Academic Exchange Service Visiting Scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen (Germany). He subsequently carried out postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley (USA) from where he returned in 2010 to his native Luxembourg through the ATTRACT fellowship scheme of the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR). He initially established his research group at the Centre de Recherche Public – Gabriel Lippmann (now Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology) but later joined the LCSB. In 2019, Paul received a European Research Council Consolidator Grant. In 2024, Paul will be Visiting Professor at Stanford University as a Fulbright Research Scholar. Paul is an elected executive board member of the Institut Grand-Ducal, Section des Sciences naturelles, physiques et mathématiques (Luxembourg National Academy of Sciences). He has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed publications and is a Highly Cited Researcher. He has filed 15 patent applications and has won several prizes for his scientific work. He is a frequently invited speaker at international scientific symposia and academic institutions. Paul’s research focuses on the study of mixed microbial communities (e.g. the human gut microbiome), their interactions with their environment (e.g., the human host), and how certain microbial community compositions lead to certain outcomes (e.g., pathogenesis). During the COVID-19 pandemic, Paul led the national response by the Luxembourg scientific community. A key outcome of these efforts was that Luxembourg had the lowest excess mortality due to COVID-19 in the EU plus UK.