Petra Louis obtained her Diploma in Biology in 1992 and her PhD in Microbiology in 1996 from the University of Bonn, Germany, where she conducted research on osmoadaptation in halophilic bacteria. She undertook post-doctoral research at the University of Aberdeen on stress responses in Escherichia coli and on mRNA secondary structure melting in yeast, before moving to the Rowett Institute in Aberdeen in 2002 to work on the human gut microbiota, diet and health. Her research concentrates on the microbial metabolism of dietary non-digestible carbohydrates (dietary fibre), with a particular emphasis on short-chain fatty acid production. She utilises are wide range of technical approaches to study the microbial ecology of fibre breakdown and fermentation product formation and her work contributes to the development of effective and personalised nutritional strategies to improve human health via actions of the gut microbiota.