Francesca Eichacker

Francesca undertook her BSc in Medical Biosciences at Imperial College London, graduating in 2023. During her degree, she completed three laboratory research projects, including a six-month investigation into the antimicrobial activity of gut bacteria against invading pathogens, under the supervision of Dr Thomas B Clarke. Driven by a continued interest in the gut microbiome, she began her PhD in Kiran Patil’s group at the MRC Toxicology Unit. Her research explores the interplay between gut bacterial metabolites and the liver in the context of drug-induced liver injury. The project is carried out in collaboration with AstraZeneca and incorporates their hepatic in vitro cell models and safety assessment assays.

The unique composition of an individual’s gut microbiome plays a significant role in modulating both the efficacy and off-target effects of pharmaceutical drugs. Gut bacteria can directly alter drug compounds, thereby influencing their pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. In addition, indirect effects occur through the production of microbiome-derived metabolites—such as tryptophan derivatives, secondary bile acids, and short-chain fatty acids—that can affect host drug responses. Francesca's PhD research focuses on investigating how microbial metabolism influences drug-induced liver injury. This is explored using a combination of in vitro models, including relevant gut bacterial strains (Patil group) and liver cell lines (in collaboration with AstraZeneca and Sarah Aitken's group at Yale Cancer Centre). The goal is to understand how shifts in microbiome-derived metabolites can modulate cellular responses to drugs, potentially offering new insights into inter-individual variability in both therapeutic efficacy and adverse drug reactions.