Exploring the Human Microbiome with Dr. Bob Hettich

Update: 2025-10-01

Description

Dr. Robert Hettich is a pioneer in bioanalytical mass spectrometry. In this episode of AMSEcast, he describes how microbiomes form, vary across the body, and influence digestion, immunity, and overall health. Dr. Hettich also explains metaproteomics, the study of microbial proteins, to reveal how microbes function beyond their genes as well as their applications from human health to environmental cleanup and bioenergy. Inspired by his daughter’s experience with Crohn’s, Robert Hettich is especially focused on microbiomes’ links to inflammatory and neurological diseases, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

Guest Bio

Dr. Robert Hettich is a corporate fellow at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and leader of its Bioanalytical Mass Spectrometry Group in the Biosciences Division. He also serves as joint faculty in the Microbiology Department at the University of Tennessee. Earning his BS from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and a PhD in Analytical Chemistry from Purdue University, Dr. Hettich joined ORNL in 1986 and has since become a pioneer in microbiome and mass spectrometry research. Widely published and honored with multiple awards, he is recognized for advancing our understanding of complex microbial systems and their impact on health.

Show Highlights

(1:45 ) What is a microbe?
(2:57 ) What is a microbiome?
(3:31 ) When microbiomes begin to develop in the body
(5:42 ) How microbiomes differ throughout the body
(7:51 ) The role of probiotics and prebiotics in microbiomes
(10:03 ) The effect of anti-microbial medication on microbiomes
(12:05 ) What metaproteomics is and what tools are required for it
(16:03 ) The role of microbiomes in development or materials, fuel, and other resources
(18:42 ) What Dr. Robert Hettich is most concerned about for his research