Biography:

Rob studied Chemistry at the University of Durham before moving to Imperial College London to study for his PhD. During this time, he developed a protocol for the untargeted metabolomic analysis of bacteria using laser desorption rapid evaporative ionisation mass spectrometry (LD-REIMS), a novel ambient ionisation method. He joined the Patil lab at the MRC Toxicology Unit in November 2023.

Research interests:

The gut microbiome is a complex chemical environment, with microorganisms producing numerous small molecules that can modulate host phenotypes. Relatively few of these metabolites have been identified, and our knowledge of the mechanisms by which they interact with host biology is limited. Rob is interested in applying untargeted metabolomics, alongside other mass spectrometry approaches, to study the metabolites produced by gut bacteria and to investigate how factors such as community composition and xenobiotic exposure influence the gut metabolome.