By Dr Peter Jackson

If you told me 30 years ago, I would now have a PhD and be a postdoctoral researcher working in the US on prebiotics, I would have thought you were crazy. Personally, I never dreamt of going to university, let alone working in research. All I ever wanted to do from 4 years old was become a chef, a career I ended transcending for close to 15 years.

Some of you are probably asking yourselves at this point, ‘how does a chef end up researching the world of the gut microbiota?’ For this, we need to take a trip back to 2012 when my life was turned upside down. At the time, I was diagnosed with a gastrointestinal condition that nearly took my life, requiring medication and self-care, subsequently forcing me to give up my career.

I did not know what to do with myself, but what I did know was that I wanted to help others the same as my gastroenterologist had helped me. This initially led to me wanting to become a dietitian. I knew to do this I would have to go back to the start. However, I had not studied for 15 years. I knew it would be hard. Many people doubted I could do this, but for the few of you who know me, you know how stubborn I am, and if you tell me I cannot do something I won’t stop until I can, no matter how hard it is. My mind was made up, I signed up at Access of Education, the original goal of going on to study dietetics. Yet, what I didn’t know was that I was about to embark on a nearly 10-year journey.

In the years that followed, I would pass college, gain a degree in Human Nutrition from Bournemouth University, find my love of Food Science, prebiotics, and fermented foods, and decided I wanted to study an MSc in Food Science at the University of Reading. Ultimately fate must have been with me as on my 1st day I met Prof. Bob Rastall and we ended up chatting about fortifying functional fibers into baked products. 10 months later I found him offering me an opportunity to undertake a 4-year PhD on the effect of the food matrix on the prebiotic efficacy of inulin-type fructans.

Looking back, I like to believe my previous experience as a pastry chef and my understanding of ingredient interactions combined with my nutrition and food science background and sheer determination to help others is ultimately what secured me this PhD.

Like all PhD’s, mine was not without challenges. I had to survive two Covid lockdowns resulting in numerous changes to the format of the PhD which saw it morph from just focusing on the food matrix to almost an exploration of the prebiotic concept moving into the world of the gut-brain axis. Yet, this only drove me to work faster and harder, ultimately accumulating in the completion of two 90-person clinical trials, numerous in vitro experiments and let’s not forget the 7500 km I completed on my bike just collecting samples.

Peter with his bike and helmet - safety first!

When time came to finish my PhD, I began putting out feelers looking for what was next. A chance DM on Twitter from Dr Lindemann at Purdue University who saw my tweet led to one initial conversation. It turned out that Dr Lindemann and Prof Rastall were highly acquainted with one another and after seeing my Tweet Dr Lindemann had emailed Prof Rastall enquiring about me. This ultimately led me to having a two-hour interview with Dr Lindemann’s entire lab group where I had to present my work and was asked several questions by each member of his team. I remember leaving that interview sweating, believing it had not gone well. Yet, in fact it was quite the opposite with Dr Lindemann offering me a job just a couple of weeks later.

Fast forward several months, I now work as a postdoctoral research associate at Purdue University, USA and let’s just say transitioning to life in academia in the US has been somewhat of a challenge. I think a fair analogy is to say it is like jumping in the deep end for the 1st time. As when I arrived, unlike my PhD, there was no clear project plan for me to follow.

I was instantly charged with finding what drives me as a prebiotic researcher. What do I want to focus on, and what do I want to get out of my research? Additionally, I found myself quickly having to take charge of our weekly group meetings, as well as managing finances, undergraduates and interns, and the monthly journal club. Luckily, my previous life as a chef and Prof. Rastall giving me greater responsibility throughout my PhD ultimately made the transition easier. Did I have to grow up quickly? Yes! Would I change it for the world? No way!

From chef to gut microbiota researcher: A journey of resilience