Humans live in symbiosis with trillions of intestinal microorganisms that provide essential metabolic functions and sometimes create or modify disease states. Our research goals are to understand the largely undefined, and very complex functions of our gut microorganisms so we can optimize the beneficial functions they provide and prevent or treat disease when it occurs.

Each of the topic headings below provides a link to a brief description of an active research area along with citations for further research:

Bacterial mechanisms of diet- and host-derived nutrient degradation

Diet-Microbiota interactions in enteric infections and inflammatory bowel disease

Global regulation of gut bacterial nutrient metabolism in complex nutrient conditions

Enzymatic degradation of intestinal mucus

Transfer of novel metabolic functions from environmental bacteria into gut microorganisms

Gut bacterial polyscaccharide capsules and interactions with immune responses and bacteriophages

Future Horizons