Dr. Romeo B. Batacan Jr. obtained his Bachelor of Science in Biology (major in Microbiology) degree, from the University of the Philippines Los Baños. He then proceeded to pursue a career in Medicine at the College of Medicine of the University of the Philippines Manila (2001). Although active in the practice of his medical profession, Dr. Batacan returned to UP Los Baños and joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Microbiology at the Institute of Biological Sciences from 2002 to 2007. In 2010, he moved to Australia and obtained his Biomedical Science Honours (2011) and PhD degree from CQUniversity Australia (2016).

He is a lecturer (Medical Science) in the School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences at CQUniversity and a member of the Stanley Research Group (Microbial Genomics Cluster). He is also a Fellow of Advance HE (UK). His research interests are focused on understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying human diseases, particularly the role of gut microbiota in health and disease.