Assist.-Prof. Clarissa Campbell, BSc MSc PhD

Clarissa Campbell's ERC project investigates how dynamic changes in microbial metabolism influence gut physiology and mucosal immunity. The research focuses on how diet-driven alterations in microbiome activity generate bioactive metabolites, including fiber-derived compounds and bile acid derivatives, that promote regulatory T-cell differentiation and maintain immune tolerance. By integrating candidate-based analyses of curated microbial molecules with untargeted metabolomic profiling under fed and fasted conditions, the lab aims to uncover the causal relationships linking nutrient intake, microbial metabolism, and immune homeostasis. In vitro immune cell assays and intestinal organoid models are used to identify host targets of microbial signals and to elucidate the molecular mechanisms through which these metabolites regulate immune responses.

Clarissa is an immunobiologist whose research explores how nutrition and microbiome-derived metabolites shape immune function in health and disease. Her interdisciplinary approach combines metabolomics, microbial genetics, and organoid-based immunology to define the molecular pathways that govern immune tolerance and tissue homeostasis. Building on research conducted at institutions including Weill Cornell, Memorial Sloan Kettering, CeMM, and the University of Vienna, her work seeks to identify actionable mechanisms through which diet–microbiome interactions influence inflammatory and metabolic diseases, ultimately supporting the development of microbiome- and nutrition-based therapeutic strategies.