Darryl Wesener

Darryl Wesener is an Assistant Professor of Microbiology at The Ohio State University (OSU), affiliated with the College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Microbiology. His research focuses on understanding the role of carbohydrates in gut microbiota assembly and host-microbe interactions. Wesener leads the Wesener Research Group, which integrates microbiology, biochemistry, and chemical biology to address how glycans influence microbiota function and immune responses.

Education: B.S. in Chemistry from Saint Norbert College (2009), Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2016), and postdoctoral training at Washington University in St. Louis (2016–2022).

Research interests include microbial glycobiology, probiotic/prebiotic development, and in vivo biosensor technology for studying gut biochemistry. Key projects explore carbohydrate-driven interspecies cross-feeding, host immune recognition of microbial glycans, and ingestible probes for functional microbiota analysis. These efforts aim to improve therapeutic strategies targeting gut health and immune modulation.

The lab’s mission emphasizes collaborative, inclusive science and leveraging microbial carbohydrate principles to enhance human health. Wesener also contributes to OSU’s Foods for Health Discovery Theme and the Biochemistry Program.