ELUMICA: Elucidating Microbial Metabolic Capacity

The gut microbiota is a known significant influencer of human health and disease. To understand this relationship, there is a need to integrate knowledge of the composition of the gut microbiome with its functionality in terms of microbiota-mediated metabolic processes. We aim to elucidate mechanisms governing interactions between gut microbes and host that alter exposure and susceptibility to drugs and chemicals. We have built a multi-disciplinary team to develop an experimental strategy to integrate metabolomics, genomics, and biochemical results in order to understand and extrapolate the correlation between bacterial composition and enzymatic activity to human health status. The newly proposed work will take a significant new step forward involving an integrative approach anticipated to yield profound knowledge about the functionality and metabolic capacity of the human and rodent microbiome.