Grant: Operating Grant - PA: Genetics (Bridge Funding: Research Priorities)

Asthma is most common chronic childhood disease, affecting 13% of Canadian children and their families. Worse, childhood asthma burdens often continue into adulthood, making research focused on prevention particularly important. Our research is focused on the microorganisms living in our intestines (scientists call this the gut microbiota). Beginning shortly after birth, babies encounter a range of bacteria that eventually stably colonize and make up their microbiota. This process, called microbiota maturation, takes years, though we aren't sure exactly how long. Importantly, these new bacteria support healthy childhood development by providing nutrients and training immune cells to selectively respond to harmful signals. Our research Team and others around the world have shown that children who go on to have asthma seem to be 'missing' certain microbes. We think that by using powerful new genomic technologies to analyze stool samples from babies and young children, we may be able to predict which ones will go on to have asthma, and even better, our research will guide the development of safe ways to replace these microbes to prevent asthma developing in the first place. To accomplish this, we need to know two things: (1) Discover which bacteria are best at preventing asthma. (2) Understand exactly how long it takes for the microbiota to mature. Once maturation is complete, the microbiota is very difficult to change, so understanding our window of opportunity to replace beneficial bacteria (and support healthy development) is important. Who knew that clues to childhood asthma could be found in dirty diapers?