Bio: Prof. Bengt Fadeel, M.D., Ph.D., is a Professor of Medical Inflammation Research at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, and Vice Chairman of the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet. Prof. Fadeel has been engaged in numerous EU-funded nanosafety projects as well as the Graphene Flagship project (2013-2023), and he is a current member of the European Innovation Council (EIC) funded projects, PERSEUS and BACTERADIX. His research deals primarily with the interactions between nanomaterials/advanced materials and the immune system. He is a Member of Academia Europaea (AE) (Class of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) and Fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences (ATS).

Abstract: The biological and toxicological impact of nanomaterials and advanced materials has been investigated in considerable detail in recent years. However, the potential impact of these materials on the microbiome has received less attention. Emerging evidence has suggested that the microbiome residing in the gastrointestinal tract is an important determinant of health and disease. Therefore, studies addressing the potential interactions between nanomaterials or other advanced materials and the microbiome and/or its metabolites are needed. We will highlight recent studies using nanomaterials and two-dimensional (2D) materials with respect to their impact on the microbiome using zebrafish as a model system, and the ramifications for such interactions for the immune response of the host. Overall, these studies have demonstrated that the microbiome should be factored in to understand the impact of nanomaterials on the host.