Lesley Hoyles

Lesley Hoyles is a Welsh microbiologist who is Professor of Microbiome and Systems Biology at Nottingham Trent University. She combines in vivo and in vitro microbiology and bioinformatics research to better understand how the gut microbiota influences health and disease.

Early life and education Hoyles was born in Swansea. She was an undergraduate student in microbiology at the University of Reading. Hoyles remained at the University of Reading for postgraduate research, working in the laboratory of Glenn Gibson as a GlaxoSmithKline-sponsored researcher. Her PhD worked considered the role of the anti-obesity therapy orlistat on the human gut microbiota.

Research and career Hoyles' early research concerned the characterisation of fastidious anaerobes isolated from clinical and veterinary sources. Her PhD studies led to her interest in the influence of the gut microbiota on human health and disease. After completing her master's degree at Imperial College London, Hoyles worked on translational systems biology as a postdoctoral research associate With Dr Simon McArthur she has demonstrated that gut-derived microbial metabolites interact directly with the blood–brain barrier. She also showed the dietary substrate trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) is subject to metabolic retroconversion.

Hoyles and McArthur identified that TMAO, a molecule found in fish and seafood, may play a role in improving cognitive function by strengthening the blood–brain barrier.