Dr. Harriët Schellekens is a lecturer at the Department of Anatomy & Neuroscience, a principal investigator with Food for Health Ireland, and a funded investigator at APC Microbiome Ireland, at University College Cork, Cork, IRELAND. Her group investigates the impact of diet & nutrition and the gut microbiome on human health and physiology, in particular in the context of obesity, stress and ageing. She uses mechanistic and translational studies bridging basic and clinical aspects of neuroscience and nutrition to investigate the concept of the link between metabolic disease and mental health across the lifespan, and the potential amelioration of both via microbiome targeted approaches. Her laboratory investigates the mechanism of the bi-directional communication of the microbiota-gut-brain axis, including immune and neuroendocrine pathways, G-Protein Coupled Receptors, and signaling via microbiota-derived metabolites. The microbiota is emerging as a unique source of metabolites with potential to modulate targets across the gut-brain axis, which provides a promising opportunity to mine for effective biotherapeutics and microbiota-targeted strategies against obesity, stress and age-related disorders.