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Current Research

Bile acids The human genome has approximately 20,000 genes. Estimates of genetic diversity in the human microbiome are on the order of 600,000. All metazoans interact with their hosts through small molecules, but we have a very poor understanding of what this chemistry is and how it affects our physiology. My laboratory uses multi-omics methods driven by microbial ecology theory to investigate the role of microbiomes of humans and animals during health and disease. 

We have three main areas of focus: 

  1. cystic fibrosis lung
  2. human gut
  3. coral reefs

CF imageDisparate as they may seem, all three represent mucosal associated microbial communities where a consortium of microorganisms interacts with each other and host cells. Using methods such as untargeted metabolomics, metagenomics and classical microbiology experiments, we are piecing together the role of these microbiomes in host health. In the case of cystic fibrosis, we see how inflammatory action shapes the chemical environment of the CF lung favoring the growth of particular pathogenic bacteria. In the human gut, we show how advanced mass spectrometry analysis methods can lead to the discovery of new chemistry of human bile acids, which have been intensely researched for over 170 years. On coral reefs, we show how symbiotic algae respond to coral bleaching events by modifying their lipid chemistry to resist thermal stress. Everywhere we look we find microbiomes interacting with their hosts, the chemical dark matter of this interaction represents a mosaic of cross-phylum chemical interactions of which we have only begun to illuminate.

Choral photo