Grant: Team Grant: Canadian Microbiome Initiative 2: Research Teams

Cervical cancer (CC) causing >250,000 deaths per year and is one of the most common cancers in women. The presence of high-risk (HR) human papillomavirus (HPV) is a widely known cause of cervical cancer, and women who are living with HIV are particularly vulnerable to this disease. Recent evidence suggests that the bacterial communities that live within the vagina, or the microbiome, is important for the clearance of HPV and the development of cervical cancer. However there is very little know about these relationships. This proposal aims to study the vaginal microbiome in women who have HPV infection and to evaluate the properties of vaginal bacteria with advanced molecular techniques to determine what role they play in disease. The hope is that we can identify microbial targets that could be used to treat women with HPV to prevent or inhibit progression to disease.