The gut microbiome has been shown to link to health and disease, and has made us envision a potential future where microbiome modulation might optimize human performance during health as well as a novel way to detect disease earlier, or to influence disease severity, progression, or ultimately prognosis. Traditional questions on microbial life have centered around microbial transmission rather than the idea of “microbial conservation”, or how microbial signatures are conserved across mammalian hosts, or host populations. We argue that the traditional approach misses a novel component of translational medicine that we propose to capitalize on, and present a data driven method in which to identify microbes that might be used to optimize health as well as detect disease earlier. A future goal of the work will be to use digital health trackers to link these units of microbial conservation to host behaviors and outcomes.
Holly is a new Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Oregon State University. As a data scientist and microbial ecologist her research vision is to extend the human healthspan, improve animal well-being, and augment global food security through clarifying host associated microbiomes. They have a special interest in the gut microbiome’s association to host behavior, longevity, as well as its connection with neurodegenerative conditions. Collaborative opportunities are welcomed.