Scientific Leadership

The MBTL Community’s scientific and educational activities are guided by an international group of microbiome experts, co-chaired by Prof. Omry Koren and Prof. Nicola Segata, who set the direction of the content and safeguard its scientific credibility.

Omry Koren is Professor at the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, and Head of the Microbiome Research Laboratory. His research focuses on the human microbiome and its interactions with the host endocrine system, behaviour, and development in health and disease. His work combines molecular microbiology and biotechnology to better understand how microbial communities shape physiology across the lifespan. He has also contributed to foundational concepts in microbiome science, including early work linking host – microbe interactions to evolutionary theory.
Prof. Koren has been named a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher for the 8th consecutive year, recognizing his sustained global influence in microbiome science.

Nicola Segata is Professor at the CIBIO Department, University of Trento, and Principal Investigator at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan. He leads a multidisciplinary research group focused on microbiome diversity, strain-level metagenomics, and the development of computational tools to study microbial communities and their role in human disease. His work integrates computational biology, microbiology, and clinical research to advance the translation of microbiome science into clinically relevant applications.
Prof. Segata has been named a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher since 2018, reflecting his leading role in microbiome and metagenomics research.