Our shared evolutionary journey and its deep history have cast archaeological materials — such as mummified tissues, coprolites and dental calculus — in the spotlight. Tentative steps are being taken to use these materials to explore the evolution of our gut microbiome, but none can provide the scale and resolution of the humble cesspit, the focus of this project. CessOmics will dive deep into the complex microbiome and virome preserved in cesspit sediments to explore the impact of major historical transitions. Moreover, CessOmics seeks to evaluate the diversity of human bacteriophages as a tool for assessing the local mobility of different populations.

In my research, I use lipid biomarkers and their isotopic signatures to reconstruct the Olduvai Gorge paleolandscape and the relationship between environmental conditions and early humans. Ongoing studies of Olduvai Gorge picture a diversity of microhabitats, dominated by different plant biosignatures that suggest the presence of woody plants, aquatic macrophytes, and hydrothermal features. My work focuses on the study of Bed I (1.8 Ma) and Bed II (1.7 Ma) — stratigraphic layers previously unstudied for extensive lipid biomarker analysis at high resolution.

The gut microbiome, a biomolecular soup of bacteria, archaea, fungi, protozoa and viruses, have co-evolved with our species over millions of years, while we colonised and shaped our world. However, despite its major role in many critical aspects of our biology exceeding the boundaries of the gut, little is known about how history has shaped our host-associated microbial communities, and how in turn our microbial partners played a role in our resilience, adaptation and vulnerability.

E-RIHS is the European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science that supports research on heritage interpretation, preservation, documentation and management. E-RIHS mission is to deliver integrated access to expertise, data and technologies through a standardized approach, and to integrate world-leading European facilities into an organisation with a clear identity and a strong cohesive role within the global heritage science community.

The Global Microbiome conservancy is a non-profit initiative I co-founded with colleagues at MIT that seeks to study and preserve the biodiversity of the global human gut microbiome. Over the last three years, has collected a large stool and saliva sample set from more than 30 countries around the world with a focus on underrepresented communities. Since its foundation, I have been in charge of the lipidomic analyses, with particular interest in the microbially-mediated conversion of cholesterol to coprostanol within non-industrialized populations.