Grant: Canadian Microbiome Initiative - LOI

This proposal brings together new and established researchers into an emerging team focused on understanding the normal changes to the intestinal microbiota (collection of micro-organisms that live normally in the gut) in response to common exposures that have been associated, in epidemiologic studies, with autoimmune and other diseases. The team will describe and measure the reactivity of the intestine in healthy individuals, in terms of immunologic response, intestinal barrier function and intestinal microbiota, before, during and after exposure to common intestinal stressors, including infection, live oral vaccination, emotional and physical stress and bowel preparation for screening colonoscopy. The team will be organized into four complementary domains: ethics/policy, molecular epidemiology of the intestinal microbiota, bioinformatics/biostatistics and immune response/intestinal barrier function.