AIG hospitals Hyderabad draws global praise for Microbiome research
HYDERABAD: At the inauguration of the Centre for Microbiome Research India at AIG Hospitals, Professor Emad El-Omar, a leading expert in gut microbiome science, described the Hyderabad facility as “the world’s best hospital” and the “most advanced research setup” he has come across.
Delivering the Dr. D. Bhaskar Reddy Memorial Oration, Prof. El-Omar, outgoing Editor-in-Chief of the journal Gut and Director of the Microbiome Research Centre at UNSW Australia, expressed excitement about the new centre’s potential. “This centre here in Hyderabad is capable of offering all the answers to many of the questions we’ve been asking for decades,” he stated, calling it a “great opportunity to collaborate and help humanity.”
Prof. El-Omar demystified the microbiome, the vast community of bacteria, viruses, and fungi living in and on the human body, describing it as a metabolic organ as potent as the liver. He emphasized its central role in health and disease, saying there are no compartments in the human body. Gut health, he said, influences the brain, lungs, kidneys, and more.
He outlined four research priorities for the coming decades: large-scale longitudinal studies, a clear definition of a healthy microbiome, and a deeper understanding of how medications and diet impact our microbial residents. The goal is to use this knowledge to develop new therapies, from next-generation probiotics to engineered living medicines.
He emphasized the importance of longitudinal studies that track individuals over time to distinguish cause from effect in disease. He cited pregnancy as an ideal, rapid model for this research and commended AIG Hospitals programs as valuable opportunities for collaboration.
Microbiome: Next frontier in healthcare
On defining a healthy microbiome, Prof. El-Omar shared his team’s approach of studying elite athletes, healthy adults, and centenarians to find a common, optimal microbial core. This template could transform therapies like Faecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT). Regarding medication impact, he revealed research showing that a quarter of common, non-antibiotic drugs, such as antipsychotics, acid inhibitors, and painkillers, directly damage beneficial gut bacteria. This explains some unintended side effects. In contrast, drugs like Metformin and new anti-obesity medications may work partly through the microbiome, which is a promising area for study.
The goal is to harness the microbiome for therapy. While diet remains the most affordable and sustainable approach, Prof. El-Omar highlighted living medicine, where bacteria are genetically engineered to deliver treatments, such as fighting cancer or combating obesity via nasal delivery.
Central to his vision was a call for a new, collaborative approach in scientific research. He laid out a blueprint for the field, “The microbiome is an exciting new frontier in medicine. It offers great opportunities for many disciplines,” said Prof. El-Omar. “It needs to be studied properly and intelligently, with an open mind, and with studies designed to provide genuine answers. The only successful approach is through multidisciplinary collaborations on national and international levels. Endless possibilities are available for developing novel therapeutic products and strategies.”
The professor called to move beyond fragmented, underfunded research. “The only solution is to collaborate,” he urged, advocating for large-scale, multinational studies with clear, ambitious targets to cure diseases within set time frames.
He expressed admiration for AIG Hospital’s advanced IT and artificial intelligence infrastructure, which he believes positions the institution to lead the next generation of healthcare. This AI-driven approach will support personalized diagnosis, diet, medication, and microbial therapy.
He believes these platforms are essential for delivering personalized, data-driven healthcare in the future, enabling significant advances in diagnosis and treatment.
