Björn O. Schröder studied Biochemistry at the Technical University of Munich and obtained his PhD from the University of Tuebingen, Germany. His increasing interest in the gut microbiota led him to a post-doctoral stay at Gothenburg University, Sweden, where he investigated how the gut microbiota can affect intestinal barrier function during metabolic diseases. During this time Dr. Schröder also became interested in intestinal mucus function. Since 2019 Dr. Schröder is a group leader at The Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS) at Umeå University, where he was appointed Associate Professor in 2024. His group studies the interaction between diet, gut microbiota and the intestinal mucosal barrier. His group combines dietary interventions in mice and humans with gut microbiota analyses, microbiota transplantations, antimicrobial assays and state-of-the-art ex vivo mucus measurements.