Intestinal Microbiome & Child Growth

Ruairi Robertson, BSc, PhD

Lecturer in Microbiome Science
Blizard Institute 
Queen Mary University of London     
London, UK

Dr Ruairi Robertson obtained a BSc in Human Nutrition from University College Dublin. He subsequently conducted a PhD in Microbiology within the APC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork and as a visiting researcher to Harvard University Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital where he examined the role of dietary omega-3 fatty acids on the developing microbiome, the gut-brain axis and metabolic health outcomes. Dr Robertson is currently a lecturer in microbiome science at The Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London.                     

Dr  Robertson’s research uses both preclinical models and clinical cohorts. He is using preclinical models to examine the influence of the gut microbiome on the training of intestinal immunity in early life and the subsequent susceptibility to infection. Concurrently, he is conducting several large randomized clinical trials in Zimbabwe and Zambia investigating the influence of the maternal and infant gut microbiomes on child growth in the context of child malnutrition. These studies are aiming to identify novel microbiome biomarkers and predictors of child undernutrition in addition to novel nutritional and pharmaceutical therapies targeting the gut microbiome in child undernutrition.