The BCMM has launched a new research program investigating how drugs, including microbe- and host-targeted small molecules and biologics, drive inter-individual variations in the microbiome structure and function. The program, led by Drs. Peter Turnbaugh and Sergio Baranzini, will examine the complex interactions between FDA-approved drugs, host-associated microbes, and the immune system to determine if drug repositioning can treat immunological diseases. To accomplish this, the team will:
- Mine electronic health records (EHR) to systematically link clinical metadata to microbiome profiles;
- Identify drug responsive microbial species and their downstream consequences for immune function; and
- Establish more translationally relevant gnotobiotic mouse models.
Resources developed by this program will be made available to the entire BCMM community, including extensive EHR-based metadata, an expanded microbial strain collection derived from human samples, gain- and loss-of-function libraries across diverse bacterial species, and new germ-free mouse lines and experimentally tractable models.
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