Our Story

Bob Hutkins is the Khem Shahani Professor Emeritus at the University of Nebraska. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and was a postdoctoral fellow at Boston University School of Medicine.

Prior to joining the University of Nebraska in 1987, he was a research scientist at Sanofi Bio Ingredients, a food biotechnology company. He is now the Senior Science Advisor for Synbiotic Health, a company he co-founded in 2019.

The Hutkins Lab has focused on the physiology of bacteria important in human health and in fermented foods. His group has been particularly interested in how probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics influence the gut microbiota and improve human health. The lab has also developed metagenome-based models that can be combined with AI and machine learning tools for personalized nutrition.

Professor Hutkins has published 150 papers on probiotics, prebiotics, and fermented foods and is the author of the textbook, Microbiology and Technology of Fermented Foods.

Andrew Benson received his Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in 1992, and he was a postdoctoral fellow in Molecular Biology at Princeton University from 1992-1996. He began his career at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as an Assistant Professor in 1996 and is currently a Professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology. During the first half of his career at the University of Nebraska, Benson’s research focused on development and application of novel genome-based strategies for differentiating subpopulations of bacterial pathogens and understanding how their genetic diversity affects physiology, ecology, and virulence characteristics. Later in his career, he began to study the human gut microbiome and is known for his work using complex trait analysis to show that species composition of the gut microbiome can be influenced by genetic variation in the host.

Prof. Jens Walter serves as the Professor of Ecology, Food, and the Microbiome at Unviersity College Cork and the APC Microbiome Ireland in Cork, Ireland. His expertise lies at the interface of evolutionary ecology of the gut microbiome and human nutrition. He is interested in the evolutionary and ecological processes that shape the host-microbiome symbiosis and the translation of basic microbiome science into therapeutic and nutritional strategies. Dr. Walter and his collaborators have pioneered the application of ecological theory to understand microbiome assembly and bacterial strain competition. By applying an ecological framework, his team have achieved highly targeted modulations of microbiomes via discrete fibre structures and stable engraftment of probiotics into the human microbiome. Prof. Walter team further pioneered approaches for the rational design of synergistic synbiotics. Overall, he has published >180 peer-reviewed publications and is a ‘highly cited researcher’ according to Clarivate.

Dr. Tom Burkey is a full professor of non-ruminant nutrition in the Department of Animal Science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he also serves as Associate Dean for Graduate Education in the
College of Agricultural Science and Natural Resources. Dr. Burkey’s research focuses on the complex interactions between nutrients, gut microbes, and immunity, with an emphasis on swine gastrointestinal
health and its implications for human health.

Tim Brummels has served for the past 5 years as the Chairman, CEO and President of Synbiotic Health. Tim has an extensive background as an entrepreneur, executive officer, board member, and investor for
natural health ingredient companies. He was a founder of Prenexus Health, a prebiotic fiber company which he served as Chairman, CEO and President for 5 years and lead a Series A funding of >$20M.

He brings over 30 years of experience having worked with entrepreneurial start-ups to Fortune 500 companies including ConAgra Foods and Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Company, as well as his own
consultancy, Edgewater Company. His pragmatic leadership approach has assisted many companies to achieve market success through team building, the implementation strong measurable strategic planning,
capitalization and financing, and market expansion to EBITDA accretion. He has served on corporate and non-profit boards and assisted both types of organizations achieved millions in capital funding and market expansion. Tim received his BSBA from the University of Nebraska.