Barbara Stecher-Letsch

Prof. Barbara Stecher-Letsch is a full Professor and Chair of the Intestinal Microbiome at the TUM School of Life Sciences. She leads the Gut Microbiome Laboratory, focusing on microbial ecosystems' protective roles against infections. Her work employs synthetic bacterial consortia and gnotobiotic mouse models to study microbe-microbe interactions. She coordinates translational research at the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) and holds leadership roles in major initiatives like CRC 1371 and CEGIMIR.

Education: Diploma in Biology (LMU Munich, 2001), PhD in Microbiology (ETH Zurich, 2005). Postdoctoral training at ETH Zurich and McMaster University (Canada). Prior appointment as W2 Professor at LMU Munich (2011–2024).

Research Interests: Microbial ecology in gut health/disease, antibiotic resistance mechanisms, synthetic microbiota design, and colonization resistance mechanisms. Her lab explores how intestinal microbiota modulate pathogen infections using systems biology approaches.

Key Awards:

• ERC Consolidator Grant (2019)
• DGHM Main Prize (2017)
• Yakult Prize (2011)

Grants & Teams: Leads DZIF translational projects on gastrointestinal infections. Oversees the Animal Facility at LMU and co-chairs the European Consortium for Gnotobiology. Her group includes researchers like Dr. Anna Burrichter and Dr. Rodrigo Sánchez Martínez.

Labs/Teams: Gut Microbiome Laboratory at TUM, collaborating with ZIEL and ZIP institutes. Active in training next-generation microbiome researchers through courses and fellowships.