EOHSI

On May 21, 2015 Dr. Weisel and members of the Rutgers’ Center on the Lung Microbiome held an all-day workshop at Trayes Hall on Douglass Campus. The workshop was titled “Foundation and Directions in Lung Microbiome Research.”

The human microbiome represents microbial populations growing on the surfaces of the epidermis, gut, lung, and other organs that contact the external environment through normal human activities. The species that comprise microbiome can now be identified and measured using new high-throughput DNA techniques. This has led to a new NIH research initiative to determine the role of the microbiome on health/disease. Few studies have been done that have examined the role of environmental exposures or exercise on lung microbiome diversity.

The workshop brought together researchers in the field to provide updates on different methods and issues for sampling and analyzing the lung microbiome, the role of the lung microbiome in respiratory disease, and initial animal studies examining how air pollutants are altering the lung microbiome.  Presenters included:

• Cliff Weisel, Rutgers University (EOHSI)
• Ronald Collman, University of Pennsylvania
• Leopoldo Segal, NYU School of Medicine
• Jillian Waters, Cornell University
• Lee Kerkhof, Rutgers University
• Leslie Shor, University of Connecticut
• Susan Lynch, UC San Francisco
• Michael Surette, McMaster University
• Christopher Evans, University of Colorado
• Stephanie Shore, Harvard University

Presentations were followed by round table discussions on where the most promising areas of research can be conducted to better understand the interplay between the lung, lung microbiome, air pollutants, and respiratory disease.  The members of the Rutgers’ Center on the Lung Microbiome will be holding a series of meetings to determine what preliminary data should be collected in preparation for a series of research proposals to NIH.

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