Fleming Prize Winner 2022: Dr Christopher Stewart

Posted on May 31, 2022   by Microbiology Society

The Microbiology Society’s Fleming Prize recognises individuals who have made a distinct contribution to microbiology early in their career. This year’s recipient of the Fleming Prize was Dr Christopher Stewart, a Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Dale and Lister Prize Fellow at Newcastle University, UK. Dr Stewart presented his prize lecture at the Microbiology Society’s Annual Conference.

In the lecture, titled ‘Diet-microbe-host interaction in early life’, Dr Stewart discussed his work investigating the main factors influencing term and preterm gut microbiome development. This included his early findings on the relationship between human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) in preterm breastmilk, the infant gut microbiome and risk of necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) development. In the latter half of his lecture, Dr Stewart explained his more recent work into the development of a model system to better understand the diet-microbe-host interaction.

Dr Stewart’s research has important clinical relevance for both the identification of novel disease biomarkers and therapeutics, as well as widening our understanding of the potential implications of a preterm birth where infants are less likely to receive maternal milk and have limited exposure to microbes in the first months of life.

An interview with Dr Stewart is available online where he discusses the key topics of his lecture and how serendipity has influenced his career to date.

 

Dr Stewart’s lecture is available to watch on our YouTube Channel.

 

Image: Dr Christopher Stewart