The Human Microbiome and its Links to Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases

In this webinar, Dr. Rob Knight of UCSD will discuss emerging opportunities for using the microbiome to improve health and prevent disease at the individual and population levels. Our discussant, CDC’s Dr. Clifford McDonald, will give an overview of CDC’s microbiome research and program implementation.

The human microbiome is the collective genome of microbial communities that live in and on us. These microbial communities are found on our skin, and in our mouths, respiratory tract, urinary tract, and gut. Microbial communities work symbiotically with our body to keep us from getting sick. Changes in composition and diversity of our gut microbiota can increase our risk of becoming carriers of antibiotic- resistant pathogens and developing Clostridiodies difficile infection. These changes have also been linked to a wide variety of human diseases across the lifespan. Rapid advances in next-generation sequencing technology have accelerated  advances in microbiome research. Research on the microbiome is expanding rapidly and provides an important example of how precision public health can protect and improve health.