Rate My Professor Kiran Patil

The Patil Group's research investigates microbiome-drug and microbiome-pollutant interactions to uncover their contributions to side effects and toxicity, with an overarching goal to discover and model complex (xeno-)metabolic networks emerging in the gut microbiota. This interdisciplinary programme combines computational approaches—such as metabolic modelling, bioinformatics, chemo-informatics, and machine learning—with experimental methods including in vitro microbiomics, metabolomics, and chemical genomics. Key publications include “Multimodal interactions of drugs, natural compounds and pollutants with the gut microbiota” (Nature Reviews Microbiology, 2022), “Bioaccumulation of therapeutic drugs by human gut bacteria” (Nature, 2021), “Polarization of microbial communities between competitive and cooperative metabolism” (Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2021), “Extensive impact of non-antibiotic drugs on human gut bacteria” (Nature, 2018), and “Nutritional preferences of human gut bacteria reveal their metabolic idiosyncrasies” (Nature Microbiology, 2018). Patil is an MRC Investigator and ERC Investigator; he received an ERC Proof-of-Concept grant in 2025 to develop anti-cancer live biotherapeutics and was named a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher in 2025. He serves as Deputy Editor for PLOS Computational Biology and has featured in BBC discussions on forever chemicals and drug-microbe interactions.