Blogs

11th September 2026

How our Food and Nutrition team are opening up UK nutrition information through new digital tools

“We have all stood in a supermarket aisle looking at a bag of spinach or a packet of lentils and wondered how nutritious they are. How much iron does spinach contain? Which grains offer the most protein? For researchers and public health teams, answering...

4th September 2026

Five days of phage science in Prague; reflections on the Viruses of Microbes 2026 conference

“In July, I travelled to Prague, Czech Republic, to attend the Viruses of Microbes (VoM) 2026 conference, with support from the Centre for Microbial Interactions Flexible Funding scheme and a travel grant from the Microbiology Society. The conference was held from 6–10 July at...

21st August 2026

From peer review to core emotions: looking beneath academic anxiety

“A few weeks ago, I was sitting at my desk late at night with nine peer reviews for the paper I submitted, waiting to be answered. I have a PhD and have spent years working in research. I am aware of this peer review...

31st July 2026

Exploring the relationship between food structure, fermentation and gut health in plant-based foods

“Food is far more than a simple source of nutrients. Food’s physical structure, formulation, and processing all play a role in determining how it is broken down during digestion and how the resulting compounds are used by our gut microbiome. With the growing popularity...

24th July 2026

How is brain health connected to the gut and why does it matter?

Brain health is the state of brain functioning across cognitive, sensory, social-emotional, behavioural and motor domains that allows a person to realise their full potential in life. Over 1 in 3 people are affected by neurological conditions, making brain disorders one of the leading...

17th July 2026

What is clinical metagenomics and how could it help diagnose infections?

“Studies have shown clinical metagenomics can be effective at detecting infections in a huge array of human samples, such as tissue, fluids and wounds. To understand what clinical metagenomics is, we first have to delve into the meaning of metagenomics. Genomics is the study...

10th July 2026

Improving inclusivity; Introducing our new EDI Committee Co-chair Dr Emma Waters

“I’m a postdoctoral researcher at the Quadram Institute and I’ve just been appointed the new EDI co-chair which is very exciting. I’m joining Dr Stephen Robinson as Co-Chair. Moving from equality to equity There are two versions of EDI. The first is Equality, Diversity...

3rd July 2026

What we learn from microbes under stress; Dr Alessia Lepore’s fellowship

“Since joining the Quadram Institute as an Early Career Fellow, I’m studying the tricks that food pathogens, microbes that cause disease, use to adapt to multiple stresses across the food chain, potentially jeopardising food safety. What stresses do microbes experience? Think of a pathogen...

26th June 2026

How we study microbiomes

A microbiome is a community of microbes, including bacteria, viruses, fungi and other microorganisms that live and interact together in an environment. Microbiome research is constantly developing to learn more about which microbes are living together in different places and what they do and...

19th June 2026

From phages to pigs: turning research into a spinout company

“I’m currently a postdoctoral researcher here at the Quadram Institute. My day-to-day research is looking at bacteriophages, which are viruses that can infect and kill bacteria, and how they can be used as therapeutics in both humans and animals. A lot of the research...