TRAIN Scholar James Head's Blog

 I met with the microbiome group again today. Two of the students presented on the impact the microbiome has on the upper respiratory tract. It was stated that microbial dysbiosis can cause conditions such as chronic rhinosinusitis. One thing I found particularly interesting was that gram negative bacteria, because they are more resistant, can dominate their habitat as a secondary infection after the host takes antibiotics. The students also covered the potential use of T4 phages to combat resistant bacteria. One of the other students and I have teamed up to do the next presentation in two weeks. We were asked to cover the influence of the gut microbiome with respect to conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome. I am looking forward to it.

  Last week I met with the super micro biome group for the first time. I am very passionate about the topic, so I was very excited to meet others with similar interests. The group had a wide variety of backgrounds, with each being equally interesting. We discussed how to organize our new projects. It was decided to work in small groups. Each group would do one research paper and one review article. Two of the veteran students volunteered to write the first papers to demonstrate for the rest of us how it as to be done. They will be assigning groups for the remaining members when we meet next week.