Michael J. Barratt, PhD

Division

• Laboratory & Genomic Medicine

Additional Titles

• Executive Director, Center for Gut Microbiome and Nutrition Research, Washington University in St. Louis

Related Links

• Gordon Lab

Education

• BA (Hons): Exeter College, Oxford University, UK (1990)
• MA, Biochemistry: Exeter College, Oxford University, UK (1992)
• PhD, Cell Biology/Molecular Sciences: Kings College London, UK (1994)

Recognition

• Nature Awards, Global Grants for Gut Health, Research Group Prize (2023)
• Science Breakthrough of the Year Runner-up “Microbes combat malnourishment” (2019)
• International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) – Recognition for relentless efforts to alleviate malnutrition through gut microbiome research (2022)
• The Clinical Research Forum: Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Award – Integrating Global Health with the Microbiome (2021)
• Tadion-Rideal Prize for Molecular Science, Kings College London UK
• BDH Prize for Biochemistry, Oxford University
• Quarrel Read Prize, Oxford University

Research Interests

Michael Barratt is Executive Director of the Center for Gut Microbiome and Nutrition Research and a member the laboratory of Jeffrey Gordon where he serves as co-director of the Breast Milk Gut Microbiome and Immunity (BMMI) and the Environmental Enteric Dysfunction (EED) Projects, supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the NIH. This translational research program is focused on understanding the role of the gut microbiota in the pathogenesis of maternal and childhood undernutrition and EED, as well as the impact of EED on pregnancy outcomes in women in low-income settings.

A central goal of the team’s work is to define structure-activity relationships between diet components and growth promoting gut bacterial strains using gnotobiotic animal models, in which the mechanistic underpinnings of microbe-host signaling on host physiology growth and metabolism – both within and beyond the gut – can be studied. These preclinical studies have led to the development of a new class of ‘microbiota-directed foods’ (MDFs) that ‘target’ underrepresented/underperforming growth-associated bacterial strains for the treatment of undernutrition. In randomized controlled clinical studies performed in Bangladeshi children by long-standing partners at the International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research (icddr,b), a first generation MDF was demonstrated to repair microbiota dysfunction and promote restoration of healthy growth of children with acute malnutrition to a clinically superior degree than current therapy.   

Currently, Michael is working closely with members of the WHO Child Health and Development Units Research Team and collaborators at multiple clinical sites in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa to conduct mechanistic studies of the efficacy and generalizability of the current lead MDF in acutely malnourished children from diverse geographic locales. These intervention trials, which are being conducted in parallel with enrolment of serially sampled children in healthy reference cohorts at each site, will enable the development of foundational knowledge of the features of disrupted microbiota development that are shared, as well as those that are potentially distinct, between sites. The knowledge gained will facilitate the optimization/development of next generation MDFs and/or prebiotic combinations that are exquisitely matched to the nutrient preferences of growth-associated gut bacteria in children from different geographies, with the potential to deliver superior efficacy and/or generalizability.

Michael brings to this role a background in pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare R&D, having spent 17 years in a variety of scientific leadership and executive level roles at Unilever and Pfizer. His career has involved both preclinical and early clinical research and development spanning multiple therapeutic areas including dermatology, cardiovascular disease, neuroscience, antibacterials and inflammation/immunology. He has led a variety of discovery teams, contributed to bringing more than 15 NCEs/Biologics into clinical development, and led multiple external alliances and collaborations with biotech and academic groups. Among other positions, he was Department Head for Molecular Pharmacology at Pfizer at Ann Arbor’s 3600 employee R&D campus, where he also served on the Biology and Discovery Leadership Teams. Prior to joining Washington University, Michael was a founder member and External Alliance Lead for Pfizer’s Global Indications Discovery Unit, a multi-disciplinary team based in St. Louis focused on identifying and testing new uses for NCEs and NBEs from Pfizer’s extensive clinical compound collection. Michael is also co-editor of the first book to be written on drug repurposing: ‘Drug Repositioning: Bringing New Life to Shelved Assets and Existing Drugs’ (Wiley). He received his PhD in Cell Biology from King’s College, London and Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Biochemistry from Oxford University.

Selected Publications

Barratt MJ, Ahmed T and Gordon JI (2022). Gut microbiome development and undernutrition. Cell Host & Microbe. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2022.04.002.

Barratt MJ, Nuzhat S, Ahsan K, Frese S, Arzamasov A, Sarker SA, Islam MM, Palit P, Islam MR, Hibberd MC, Nakshatri S, Cowardin CA, Guruge JL, Byrne AE, Venkatesh S, Sundaresan V, Henrick B, Duar RM, Mitchell RD, Casaburi G, Flannery R, Mahfuz M, Rodionov DA, Osterman AL, Kyle D, Ahmed T, and Gordon JI (2022). Characterizing Bifidobacterium longum subspecies infantis strains in undernourished Bangladeshi infants and gnotobiotic mice. Science Translational Medicine 14, abk1107.

Chen RY, Mostafa I, Hibberd MC, Das S, Mahfuz M, Naila NN, Islam MM, Huq S, Alam MA, Zaman MU, Raman AS, Webber D, Zhou C, Sundaresan V, Ahsan K, Meier MF, Barratt MJ, Ahmed T, and Gordon JI (2021). A Microbiota-Directed Food Intervention for Undernourished Children New Engl. J. Med. 384, 1517-1528

Delannoy-Bruno O, Desai C, Raman AS, Chen RY, Hibberd MC, Cheng J, Han N, Castillo JJ, Couture G, Lebrilla CB, Barve RA, Lombard V, Henrissat B, Leyn SA, Rodionov DA, Osterman AL, Hayashi DK, Meynier A, Vinoy S, Kirbach K, Wilmot T, Heath AC, Klein S, Barratt MJ, and Gordon JI (2021). Characterizing microbiome-directed fibre snacks in gnotobiotic mice and humans. Nature s41586-021-03671-4 (2021).

Chen RY, Kung VL, Das S, Hossain MS, Hibberd MC, Guruge J, Mahfuz M, Begum SMKN, Rahman MM, Fahim SM, Gazi MA, Haque R, Sarker SA, Mazumder RN, Di Luccia B, Ahsan K, Kennedy E, Santiago-Borges J, Rodionov DA, Leyn SA, Osterman AL, Barratt MJ, Ahmed T, Gordon JI. Linking the duodenal microbiota to stunting in a cohort of undernourished Bangladeshi children with enteropathy New Engl. J. Med. 283: 321-333 (2020). PMCID: PMC7289524

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Assistant
Stephanie Amen
314-362-0269
samen@wustl.edu