Editorial Board

Microbiota and Host is recently launched, as such the Editorial Board is continuing to grow.

Interested in reviewing for the journal? Email the editorial office.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
	Bina Joe, MSc, PhD, FAHA, FAPS, ISHF Distinguished University Professor and Chair, Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Toledo, Ohio, USA Her research is focused on the fundamental mechanisms underpinning the genesis of hypertension, which is the single largest risk factor for human mortality through cardiovascular diseases. She pioneered the discovery that gut microbiota contribute to hypertension and later, using germ-free rats, demonstrated that gut microbiota is essential for vascular tone and maintenance of blood pressure homeostasis. Her current research is on host-microbiota interactions and the mechanisms by which host epigenetics and microbial metabolites regulate blood pressure.

ASSOCIATE EDITORS
	Simon JS Cameron, BSc, PhD, MRSB, FHEA Senior Lecturer in Microbiology and Bioanalytical Chemistry, Queen’s University Belfast, UK Dr Cameron’s research group within the School of Biological Sciences and Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University Belfast utilises microbiology and mass spectrometry techniques to explore the role of microorganisms in human, animal, and plant health and disease. They use a combination of molecular and culture-based microbiology with mass spectrometry – with a focus on ambient ionisation techniques – to understand the role that microorganisms play in different systems and how this can be utilised to better understand health and diagnose disease.
	Benoit Chassaing, PhD Microbiology Research Director, INSERM – French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, Paris, France Dr Chassaing obtained his PhD in microbiology at the University of Clermont-Ferrand, France, identifying factors involved in the virulence of adherent and invasive Escherichia coli strain, the pathovar involved in the etiology of Crohn's disease. He then joined Georgia State University to work with Dr Andrew T Gewirtz on various subjects related to mucosal immunology, trying to decipher how genetic and environmental factors can perturb the intestinal microbiota composition in a detrimental way, leading to chronic intestinal inflammation and metabolic deregulations. Appointed assistant professor in 2015, his laboratory relocated to Paris, with a focus on the understanding of mechanisms by which environmental factors, such as select food components, are involved in shaping detrimental microbiota, and particular focus on intestinal inflammation and altered metabolism. His current research uses pre-clinical and clinical approaches, as well as in vitro modelling of the intestinal microbiota, to better define microbiota regulation and subsequent impact on intestinal health and metabolism.
	Sandrine Claus, PhD Biochemistry Chief Scientific Officer at Ysopia Bioscience, France and visiting lecturer at King’s College London, UK After earning her PhD in Biochemistry at Imperial College London, where she started to study host–gut microbiota metabolic interplay, Dr Claus joined the University of Reading to lead a research group as Associate Professor in Integrative Metabolism. After 12 years of academic research, she decided to translate the fundamental science of the gut microbiome into clinical applications by joining Ysopia bioscience as CSO. Her research focuses on the host immune and metabolic response to gut microbiome changes in health and disease. Her interests include the development of microbiome-based therapies and gut microbiome ecology.
	Sean Colgan, PhD Professor of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA The Colgan Lab has a long-standing interest in defining novel mechanisms of mucosal inflammatory responses, specifically related to innate immunity and immunometabolism. We have identified a number of novel regulatory pathways related to shifts in metabolism associated with ongoing inflammatory responses. Our overarching goal is to understand, at a basic level, changes in tissue metabolism during active mucosal inflammation. We use basic biochemistry, molecular biology and physiology to define these principles. Our target human disease is inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Wherever possible, we translate our basic studies into actionable endpoints in IBD patients.
	David Durgan, PhD Molecular Physiology and Biophysics Assistant Professor of Integrative Physiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA Dr Durgan’s research focus is on understanding the role of the gut microbiota on cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiology. His work has demonstrated a causal role got dysbiosis in the development of hypertension and cerebral small vessel disease. He is actively investigating microbial metabolites and host inflammatory response to microbes as mechanisms involved in blood pressure regulation.
	Marwa Hassan, PhD Research Fellow in Microbiology and Molecular Biology, University of Surrey, UK Her research interest is focused on understanding microbial interactions utilising ex vivo and in vitro animal models. She is particularly interested in developing these models and utilising them in understanding the spread of antimicrobial resistance and the effects on bacterial persistence from a single cell perspective.
	Mike Kogut, PhD Research Microbiologist and Lead Scientist, Food and Feed Safety Research Unit, Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center, College Station, TX, USA Dr Kogut has published over 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers, 11 book chapters, and has received 5 patents. His research is centered on gut health of poultry and alternatives to antibiotics to control disease and increase production. Specifically, Dr Kogut’s research has concentrated on the development of cost-effective immunological interventions to improve gut health by studying the role of the microbiota in immunity to infection; the role of dietary metabolites in promoting immune regulation and immune responses to pathogens; tissue specific regulatory responses to infection; characterizing novel molecular targets that mediate the actions of dietary compounds and botanicals in inflammation and immunity; investigating how diet modulates the gut microbiome and mucosal immune responses; and understanding the integration of central metabolic pathways and nutrient sensing with antimicrobial immunity and how it alters cellular energy homeostasis and contributes to the prevention or resolution of foodborne pathogen infections in poultry.
	Elizabeth Mann University of Manchester, UK BIOG Dr Elizabeth Mann.
	Luigina Romani, PhD Professor of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Perugia, Italy Her research is focused on host- and microbial-dependent mechanisms of antifungal immunity. She introduced several novel scientific and translatable concepts which have become popular in the field of medical microbiology. Examples are the concept of protective tolerance to microbes, the basis of antimicrobial immunotherapy, the pathogenic role of inflammation in infections, the discovery of tryptophan metabolites as potential mediators of the host/fungi/bacteria crosstalk. More recently, human metagenomics and metabolomics signatures predictive of infectious diseases are also of interest.
	Matam Vijay-Kumar, PhD University of Toledo, OH, USA Professor Vijay-Kumar's research interests are the dynamics between innate immunity, gut microbiota and gastrointestinal pathogens. The co-ordination and fine tuning between accessory immune cells (e.g. epithelia) and professional immune cells (e.g. neutrophils and macrophages) helps not only in gut microbiotal homeostasis but also helps in eradication of perturbing pathogens in the gut. These cells express specific 'pattern recognition receptors' (PRRs), which broadly sense specific microbial ligands and evoke innate immune response and help in gut homeostasis. In addition, we demonstrate that microbial products (i.e. viral RNA, flagellin) which potently activate their cognate TLR activation and broadly protect against enteropathogens and viruses.
	Jasenka Zubcevic University of Toledo, OH, USA BIOG Associate Professor Jasenka Zubcevic.

STATISTICAL EDITOR
	Hani Aldirawi, PhD Assistant Professor of Statistics, California State University-San Bernardino, San Bernardino, CA, USA Dr Aldirawi’s research focus is on modeling microbiome data. He is studying and investigating the probabilistic and regression models that are used for modeling microbiome data such as zero-inflated and hurdle models.