I come from Italy from a very small town next to Lodi. I completed my bachelor degree in Medical Biotechnology at University of Milan in 2016 with a thesis entitled "Expression of recombinant proteins in a eukaryotic system". At University of Milan I also completed my master's degree in Medical Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine with a thesis entitled "Generation of murine models for human enteropathogenic infections".

I am currently a PhD student at the Biomedical Science Unit of University of Ulster in Norhern Ireland (United Kingdom). My project is entitled: "Gut microbiome resilience: is the emergence of intestinal pathobionts determined by poor diet?".

My area of interest concerns the relationship between diet and microbiota, how it influences its resilience against perturbations and the relationship between pathogens and their interaction with the host and the gut microbiota in health and disease.

PhD project: Gut microbiome resilience: is the emergence of intestinal pathobionts determined by poor diet?

FEM Research Unit and supervisor: Nutrition and Nutrigenomics research group, Dr. Kieran Tuohy

Email: massimiliano.fontana@fmach.it, Fontana-M@ulster.ac.uk