Examining gut bacteria and bacterial pathogens to identify species combinations to prevent or treat disease

The human microbiome is important for many aspects of our health and yet we currently lack the ability to modulate it for the vast majority of diseases. The key challenge is that it is a diverse ecological system, containing many strains and species of microbe, which needs new approaches and paradigms for the treatment of disease. This project will culture diverse anaerobic species of gut bacteria alongside bacterial pathogens to look for species combinations that can prevent or treat disease. The core methods will involve bacterial culture in the lab, but also germ-free mouse work to validate discoveries. A combination of ecological and evolutionary approaches will be applied to help rationally design multispecies communities that both treat disease but also avoid the evolution of resistance in pathogens. In this way, the goal is to help usher in a new set of treatments for microbiome-based diseases and reduce our reliance on antibiotics.