I graduated from Leeds University with a BSc in Microbiology. I then moved to Cardiff University and obtained a PhD in microbial metabolism of xenobiotic compounds. After a short postdoctoral position in the Biochemistry Department of Cardiff University I joined the institute in 1989 and have worked on a number of industrially-funded biotechnology projects on the engineering of lactic acid bacteria and yeast for production of novel food ingredients and antimicrobials.

Currently I am the translational microbiome group leader at the Quadram Institute Bioscience where my research is focused on understanding the role of gut bacteria in health and disease of humans and animals.

Current focus of our research is on the competitive exclusion of foodborne pathogens such as Campylobacter and C. perfringens from the food chain.  In collaboration with clinicians at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital my group is actively involved in setting up Faecal Microbiota Transplant (FMT) service for the treatment of recurrent Clostridium difficile infections. We are also exploring the role of gut microbiome in colonisation and persistence of the SARS COV-2 in the GI tract of COVID-19 patients.

I have published more than 160 research papers and have filed 11 international patents. I have been appointed a Visiting Professor at Jiangnan University in China and have recently established a BBSRC funded UK-China joint centre for research on probiotics

• We currently have a MMB DTP opportunity in our group on “The Role of Bilophila wadsworthia in Microbiome-Driven Metabolic Dysfunction: Impact of Obesity-Associated Microbiomes” (Deadline 14 April 2025)

Key Publications

Sayavedra, L., Yasir, M., Goldson, A. et al. Bacterial microcompartments and energy metabolism drive gut colonization by Bilophila wadsworthia. Nat Commun 16, 5049 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60180-y

J Davies, MJ Mayer, N Juge, A Narbad, L Sayavedra (2024) Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron enhances H2S production in Bilophila wadsworthia Gut Microbes 16 (1), 2431644 https://doi.org/10.1080/19490976.2024.2431644 

Romano, S., Wirbel, J., Ansorge, R.,  Schudoma, C., Ducarmon,QR., Narbad, A., Georg Zeller,G. (2025) Machine learning-based meta-analysis reveals gut microbiome alterations associated with Parkinson’s disease. Nat Commun 16, 4227. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56829-3

L Sayavedra, T Li, M Bueno Batista, BKB Seah, C Booth, Q Zhai, W Chen, (2021)  Desulfovibrio diazotrophicus sp. nov., a sulfate‐reducing bacterium from the human gut capable of nitrogen fixationEnvironmental Microbiology 24 (10), 4971-4971 https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.15538

S Romano, GM Savva, JR Bedarf, IG Charles, F Hildebrand, A Narbad (2021) Meta-analysis of the Parkinson’s disease gut microbiome suggests alterations linked to intestinal inflammation npj Parkinson’s Disease https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-021-00156-z