Susan V. Lynch is a professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and Director of the Benioff Center for Microbiome Medicine, United States. Her research focuses on the gut microbiome and chronic inflammatory disease, with specific emphasis on childhood allergy and asthma, and adult inflammatory bowel disease.

Siew C. Ng is a professor in the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Associate Director of the Centre for Gut Microbiota Research, Director of the Microbiota Innovation Centre (MagIC) and Assistant Dean for Development at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. She is an Associate Editor of Gut. Her interest focuses on studies of the human gut microbiota in health and diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease, cancer and obesity, and the increasing role of the virome and fungi in faecal microbiota transplantation.

Fergus Shanahan is Emeritus Professor of Medicine at University College Cork, National University of Ireland, and Foundation Director of APC Microbiome Ireland, a research centre funded by Science Foundation Ireland since 2003, which investigates host–microorganism interactions in the gut. His interests include most things that affect the experience of illness.

Herbert Tilg is Head of the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Endocrinology and Metabolism at Medical University Innsbruck, Austria. His main research interest is inflammation, innate immunity and interaction with the gut microbiome in gastrointestinal and liver disorders. He is an Associate Editor of Gut and Chairman of the Scientific Committee, United European Gastroenterology.