Josef Ecker is a lipid biologist and Professor for Functional Lipidomics & Metabolism Research at the University Hospital in Regensburg, Germany. Combining multi-omics studies with hypothesis-driven research, his lab aims to improve our knowledge on whole-body lipid metabolism in physiology and pathobiology. The application of discoveries intends to develop new diagnostic strategies as well as to prevent and treat disease, especially at the intersection of cardiometabolic disease and intestinal cancer. A necessary prerequisite therefore is to understand the role of gut microbes for host lipid metabolism. Diet plays a critical part in this, as it influences host physiology, but also provides for the microbiota nutrients that can be metabolized and cross the intestinal epithelium, before entering the circulation and peripheral tissues.