Akintunde Emiola, Ph.D.

The human microbiome contributes to the overall health of its host through multiple mechanisms, including nutrient breakdown and colonization resistance to pathogens. As a result, microbial imbalance in the human microbiome has been linked to a wide range of diseases. Our research focuses on the intersection of microbiome function and human health with the overarching goal of developing microbiome-based therapeutics to treat diseases.

There are two key questions that we aim to address: (i) can we uncover microbial associations with diseases using new tools that would otherwise not be detected using traditional methods? (ii) Can we modulate the microbiome as a clinical intervention by specifically targeting a microbe of interest without disrupting the microbiome? We are particularly interested in developing antimicrobial prodrugs and phage therapy strategies to inhibit detrimental pathogens associated with diseases while preserving beneficial commensals. For our studies, our initial focus is on Porphyromonas gingivalis, a keystone pathogen involved in periodontitis. Nevertheless, we expect our approach and findings will be applicable to a wide range of diseases beyond the oral microbiome.

Dr. Emiola received his Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, respectively, from the University of East London, United Kingdom. His graduate work focused on developing computational kinetic models to study bacterial pathway dynamics, with the goal of identifying suitable drug targets. Dr. Emiola’s work led to the discovery of a potent antimicrobial molecule which served as the basis for the establishment of a biotech company.

Dr. Emiola received a highly selective JAX Scholar award for his postdoctoral training at the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, USA, to conduct research on the microbiome where he developed computational tools and pipelines to analyze metagenomics datasets. Most recently, his work focused on developing a technology to characterize total nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) from single microbial cells for high-throughput identification of novel antibiotics. His effort in this area was rewarded with an NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence award. In 2021, Dr. Emiola was appointed as a Stadtman Investigator at NIDCR.