Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Human Microbiome

Baker Heart & Diabetes Institute,
Cambridge-Baker Systems Genomics Initiative, Level 6
75, Commercial Road, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia
E-mail: gm657@bath.ac.uk

Profile:

I am an associate professor, senior lecturer and group leader in clinical microbiology, microbial (meta)genomics and bioinformatics and systems biology. I work at the Department of Life Sciences at the University of Bath (UK) in the Systems Medicine and Population Health Division, and hold a clinical affiliate appointment at the Cambridge-Baker Systems Genomics Initiative, a joint research program between the Baker Heart & Diabetes Institute in Melbourne (Australia) and the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at the University of Cambridge (UK). My other honorary appointments include Uppsala University (Sweden) and other Australian universities (University of Melbourne, La Trobe University and Monash University).

My research interests focus on the bioinformatic and computational analysis of large-scale human population cohort datasets that include a microbial component, typically metagenomic sequences from the gut or other body sites.

In my group, we address a range of clinical, biological and ecological questions on host-microbe association, interaction and function as well as the influence of microbes (commensals or pathogens) and the gut microbiota on health and disease, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, liver diseases and others.

Our scientific interests are generalist and fundamental at heart, but a few topics are of particular interest, such as:
(1) the ecology of bacterial pathogens (foodborne, zoonotic, nosocomial) in the healthy human gut and their association with non-communicable diseases;
(2) the genetic basis of pathogenic variation and association with human or animal disease;
(3) the effects of antibiotic and non-antibiotic medication on the gut microbiome and gut resistome dynamics;
(4) the exploration of links between the gut microbiota and host genetics, diet, disease risk and progression, within the framework of precision medicine and microbiome modulation;
(5) the human gut archaeome and links with human lifestyle and health.

Positions and qualifications:

2025-now Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor), Department of Life Sciences, Systems Medicine & Population Health Division, University of Bath, UK
2023-2025 Senior Research Officer & Group Leader, Cambridge-Baker Systems Genomics Initiative, Baker Heart & Diabetes Institute
2018-2023 Senior Research Officer (Senior Postdoc-level), Baker Heart & Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia
2016-2018 Research Fellow, The Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath, UK
2012-2016 NISCHR Health Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Swansea, Wales, UK
2007-2012 PhD. University of East Anglia (UEA)/Institute of Food Research (now Quadram Institute), Norwich, UK
2005-2007 MSc. INSA Lyon / Université Claude-Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Lyon, France
2002-2005 BSc. UCBL Lyon (France) + University of Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada

Current honorary appointments:

• Clinical Affiliate, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute (until 2027), Melbourne
• Baker Department of Cardiometabolic Health, University of Melbourne
• School of Agriculture, Biomedicine Environment, La Trobe University, Melbourne
• Molecular Epidemiology, Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Sweden.

Professional profiles:

Bluesky: @gmeric.bsky.social
ORCID: 0000-0001-6288-9958
Publons/ResearcherID: R-3947-2017
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