Congratulations to Julia Brown, PhD on receiving funding for her study, “The role of the neonatal gut microbiome in lung immune development and antiviral immunity,” as part of the Biocodex Microbiota Foundation Grant Program.
The gut microbiome plays a critical role in neonatal immune development, and early-life perturbations to the microbiome have been linked to later susceptibility to respiratory conditions, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, as well as modulating respiratory infection outcomes. Premature infants have a significantly altered microbiome, but it remains unclear how these alterations affect immune development or disease outcomes. For this study, Dr. Brown will use stool specimens from preterm and term infants to investigate the influence of the microbiome on immune responses to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which is particularly severe in premature infants, and determine whether the altered microbiome of premature infants skews the immune system towards a pathogenic rather than protective response. The ultimate goal of this project is to identify components of the gut microbiome that influence early-life immune development, which could open a path toward probiotic-based therapeutics to improve immune system development in premature infants.