Award
National Institute of General Medical Sciences 5R35GM160067-02
Deciphering and predicting ecologically sensitive gut microbiome contributions to human metabolic health
Recipient
Harvard University
Award Amount
$421,250.00
Ceiling
$421,250.00
Awarded
July 20, 2026
Identifier
5R35GM160067-02
This award supports research to understand how ecological and social factors influence the gut microbiome's role in human metabolic health, using experimental and computational approaches to predict microbiome features that promote health.
Description
The project investigates how ecological factors like diet, caloric intake, and exercise shape gut microbiome contributions to metabolic health, and how social transmission of microbes influences disease risk and resilience. It employs natural variation and controlled diet/exercise interventions in mice, along with social network analysis, to study causal impacts and transmission dynamics. The research emphasizes bacterial and non-bacterial microbiome components, host and microbiome phenotyping, and machine learning models to predict microbiome contributions to health.