Following positions in Sweden, Canada, New Zealand and the US, Paul O’Toole is Professor of Microbial Genomics and Head of Microbiology at University College Cork, Ireland. His main research theme is on the genomics of gastrointestinal bacteria in humans with emphasis on lactobacillus genomics and phylogeny; gut microbiota in ageing, colorectal cancer and in IBS. He has co-ordinated and participated in several major projects that examine the composition and function of the gut microbiota, its reaction to habitual diet, and its relationship to health, functional gastrointestinal disorders, and ageing. The ultimate aim of these investigations is to understand host-microbiome interactions, especially in the context of multi-factorial disease. He co-ordinated the ELDERMET project (eldermet.ucc.ie), a nationally funded project that established diet-microbiota health interactions in elderly persons, and ELDERFOOD that investigated novel foods for healthy aging. He is a Principal Investigator in APC Microbiome Ireland (apc.ucc.ie), in which he leads projects on microbiota as a modulator of disease risk in aging and colorectal cancer. He has participated in multiple EU projects including NuAge which identified beneficial effects of a Mediterranean diet on microbiome and health. Research in his lab is supported by Science Foundation Ireland, Dept. Agriculture Fisheries and Marine (Govt. Ireland), the Health Research Board Ireland, and the European Union. He has published over 250 articles and has an H-index of 67 (Web of Science). He has delivered >200 conference presentations.