At the start of this academic year, we welcomed Professor Lindsay Hall as Chair of Microbiome Research in the Institute of Microbiology and Infection.
As a distinguished microbiologist and educator, Professor Hall brings a wealth of knowledge and experience, enriching the University of Birmingham's academic community and contributing to ground-breaking research in microbiome science. She also holds a Wellcome Investigator award.
Professor Hall’s specific research focus is on how maternal and infant health are affected by microbial communities in the gut, both in the short and long-term. With Birmingham’s flagship research in maternal health, she joins an Institution that is an excellent match for taking her work forwards.
Professor Hall’s research to date has advanced understanding of how gut microbiota affect human health, especially during the critical early stages of life and how those impacts lay the foundation for future health and vitality. She is also interested in the potential of early life microbes to positively influence the risk and progression of chronic diseases, including cancer.
I'm thrilled to join IMI and MDS, and I'm eager to collaborate with my new colleagues. Our team is committed to translating science for patient benefit. University of Birmingham is renowned for its clinical and biomedical scientific research, particularly expertise in maternal and infant health, which offers a fantastic platform to initiate innovative studies spanning various health and disease domains.
Professor Hall joins us from the Technical University of Munich in Germany where she held the role of Chair of Intestinal Microbiome. At the beginning of her career, she gained a BSc in Microbiology at the University of Glasgow, followed by a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Cambridge at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. Her fascination with gut-associated microbial communities was ignited during her postdoctoral fellowship at University College Cork and she later moved to University of East Anglia, followed by the Quadram Institute in Norwich to further her work in the field.
Beyond her research, Professor Hall has a strong commitment to public engagement, sharing her enthusiasm for science through various outreach and educational initiatives, including creating a large ‘walk through gut’ exhibit that she brings with her from previous roles. She also has a wealth of experience speaking with the media about her work, including interviews with BBC Horizon, BBC Breakfast and the You Are What You Eat programme. Professor Hall plans to continue shining the spotlight on microbiome research and raising the profile of research in Birmingham as she does so.
"Professor Hall's move to the University of Birmingham has further strengthened our research in the field of microbiome sciences. Professor Hall joins an Institute in which several groups already study the microbial communities that populate the human body with the aim to understand their role in health and disease. Collectively, the Institute of Microbiology and Infection has a mission to improve human health and wellbeing. Human microbiome research provides exciting opportunities to leverage our science to develop interventions aimed at improving lives of mothers and their children."
Professor Hall’s exceptionally strong track record in this field will lead to new collaborations across the campus, and with clinical partners across the West Midlands, and will ensure that scientific progress is translated to benefits for public health.
Chair of Microbiome Research
Staff Profile for Professor Lindsay Hall, Chair of Microbiome Research, Institute of Microbiology and Infection, University of Birmingham
Head of Research of the School of Infection, Inflammation and Immunology
Contact information and biography for Professor Willem van Schaik, Professor of Microbiology at the University of Birmingham.
