Joe Aduse-Opoku graduated from Hull University with a BSc in Biochemistry and obtained his PhD in Microbiology from the Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. He investigated the genetics and physiology of xylose metabolism in the anaerobic thermophile Clostridium (thermoanaerobacterium) thermosaccharolyticum with Wilf Mitchell, with a view to optimising the conversion of renewable biomass into ethanol. After three years working on the genetics of sugar metabolism in cariogenic Streptococcus mutans, Joe joined the Medical Research Council (MRC) Periodontal Diseases programme where he worked with Professor Mike Curtis, investigating the virulence of periodontal bacteria, especially Porphyromonas gingivalis.

They are currently applying molecular microbiology to study surface structures, virulence factors and post translational modifications of components of bacteria (with emphasis on Porphyromonas gingivalis) that are associated with periodontal disease. Functional investigation into host-bacterial interactions via the microbiome and bacterial isolates, through genes and genomes, are being applied to elucidate the mechanisms of periodontal disease.