TOMBio
Integrating molecular, microbial, nutritional, population and health-systems research to address interconnected health and food-system challenges in African populations.
Connecting science across scales
TOMBio develops interdisciplinary research connecting biological mechanisms, microbial systems, food and nutrition, population health and healthcare delivery. Our work focuses on research questions where understanding health requires connections across biological, environmental, food-system and health-system contexts.
Three connected
scientific themes
TOMBio is structured around three themes connected by cross-cutting molecular and translational biosciences.
Non-Communicable Diseases & Metabolic Health
Understanding biological, nutritional, microbial and population determinants of chronic and metabolic disease.
Explore themeFood Systems, Microbiomes & Health
Investigating African food systems, microbial ecology, nutrition, food safety and place-based knowledge and innovation.
Explore themeCommunity Health & Primary Healthcare Systems
Understanding how community interventions, primary healthcare, policy and health-system capacity influence prevention, access to care and health outcomes.
Explore theme
From biological mechanisms to real-world health
Many contemporary health challenges cannot be understood through a single disciplinary lens.
Diet, metabolism, microbial exposures, food systems, immunity, environmental factors and health-system conditions frequently interact to influence individual and population health.
TOMBio develops integrated research questions that connect laboratory and molecular science with food-system, population and community realities.
Research across
connected levels
The model is deliberately multidirectional. Different projects can connect different levels depending on the scientific question.
Locally grounded.
Scientifically rigorous.
African communities and environments contain valuable food practices, biological resources and locally developed knowledge systems that offer opportunities for both fundamental discovery and applied innovation.
TOMBio combines place-based knowledge with contemporary molecular, microbial, nutritional and population-health approaches.
Collaborative by Design
Complex research questions require complementary expertise. TOMBio develops collaborations across disciplines and institutions.