Microbiome

The human body harbors millions of diverse commensal microbes, collectively termed the microbiome. The microbiome is increasingly appreciated to contribute to almost every aspect of human physiology, and is involved in multi-factorial infectious and non-communicable human diseases, including obesity, fatty liver, inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, neurodegeneration, and even skin and reproductive system diseases. Unraveling the molecular basis of host-microbiome interactions may lead to the development of new precision treatments.

WIS researchers integrate microbiology, computational biology, immunology, metabolic and neuroscience in mechanistically studying host-microbiome interactions, their regulation by the human genome, immune system, and by environmental factors such as diet, medication and disease, in striving to understand the personalized microbiome contribution to human health and disease. In doing so, they develop innovative data-driven microbiome interventions such as personalized nutrition, precision probiotics, postbiotics, phage therapy, and targeted bacterial treatment in tumor immune therapy. Moreover, they explore the non-bacterial microbiomes such as the fungal, viral and parasitic ecosystems in the human body.