Emad El-Omar

Professor Emad El-Omar is the Professor of Medicine at the St George and Sutherland Clinical School, UNSW Australia, and the Director of the Microbiome Research Centre at St George Hospital, Kogarah.

Research Interests:
The research focus of our team is the role of chronic inflammation in GI disease, particularly malignancy. This inflammation is often microbially induced, hence our focus on understanding the gut microbiota and host bacterial interactions in several GI diseases. Our most developed research programme deals with the role of Helicobacter pylori infection in gastric cancer. We also have a strong programme on the role of the gut microbiota in colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease. A new programme will address the role of the gut microbiota in hepatocellular cancer. We have an established international reputation in the study of host genetics of gastric cancer. We collaborate with research groups across the world and have a particularly strong presence in the Asia-Pacific region. Since 2017 we have established a Microbiome Research Centre (MRC) at St George Hospital. The MRC's aim is to facilitate collaborative research in all aspects of microbiome related health and disease, including cancer, maternal and child health, infection/inflammation/immunity, critical care and neuroscience/mental health.

Broad Research Areas:
Gastrointestinal and liver cancer
Inflammatory bowel disease
Gut microbiota
Molecular microbiology
Host genetics
Gastric physiology