Jens Walter
Biography
Jens Walter serves as the Professor of Ecology, Food, and the Microbiome at University College Cork and the APC Microbiome Ireland. His expertise lies at the interface of evolutionary ecology of the gut microbiome and human nutrition. His research focuses on the evolutionary and ecological processes that have shaped host-microbiome symbiosis and the translation of basic microbiome science into therapeutic and nutritional strategies. Dr. Walter and his collaborators have pioneered the application of ecological theory to elucidate ecological and nutritional factors that shape gut microbiomes and have achieved targeted modulations of microbiomes via dietary strategies and live microbes. Prof. Walter has published >140 peer-reviewed publications (google scholar H-index 69, >23,000 citations) and is a ‘highly cited researcher’ according to the Web of Science group.
Prof. Walter’s research has been featured on six occasions in the research highlights of Nature and Nature Reviews journals, and he has participated in several invitation-only workshops and think-tanks of the NIH, CIFAR (Canadian-based global organization that convenes extraordinary minds to address the most important questions facing science and humanity; https://www.cifar.ca/) and ILSI to discuss imminent issues in the microbiome field. He has led several provocative science commentaries with other opinion leaders that inter alia challenged current paradigms in the microbiome field that required critical assessment, such as the exaggeration of causal claims (Cell, 2020, 180:221-232), the definition of prebiotics (Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2015, 12:303-10), use of ‘human microbiota-associated mice’ (Cell Host and Microbe 2016, 19:575-578), and the ‘prenatal in utero microbiome’ (Microbiome 2017, 5(1):48
Research Interests
Theme: Diet and Microbes
SDGs: Good Health & Wellbeing - societal health/chronic disease prevention
Research key words: Microbiome Restoration, Precision Microbiome Modulation, Microbiome Targeted Therapeutics