Maintenance and recovery of key beneficial services by complex microbial communities in the face of disturbance is fundamental to health. Yet, stability and resilience vary in, and between different individuals, and are poorly understood. We seek to identify features of the human microbiome that predict microbial community stability and resilience following disturbance.

Normal pregnancy represents a unique, transient, and dynamic state of altered anatomy, physiology, and immune function. Preterm birth, i.e., before 37 weeks of gestation, occurs in approximately 11% of pregnancies and is the leading cause of neonatal death. In both term and preterm pregnancies, the interplay between the microbiota and the host remains poorly understood. The human indigenous microbial communities (microbiota) play critical roles in health and may be especially important for mother and fetus during pregnancy. We are interested in understanding how the microbiome helps to shape maternal health and fetal development during pregnancy, and how pregnancy shapes the microbiome.

Marine mammals play crucial roles in the ecology of our oceans. They serve as apex predators and keystone species in the food web, influence marine nutrient storage and recycling, and are important indicators of ocean health. Their evolutionary history suggests multiple independent returns from land and adaptations to life in the sea. These intelligent animals also have economic value due to their aesthetic and intrinsic value to humans. Despite their importance, little is known about the indigenous microbiota of marine mammals.

Arsenic (As) contamination of soils and water occurs worldwide-including in the U.S.-originating from both environmental and anthropogenic sources. Naturally-occurring alluvial As contaminates groundwater in South and Southeast Asia, and has caused wide-scale poisoning of a susceptible and malnourished populace. Chronic As exposure affects over 25 million people in Bangladesh alone. Industrial sources of arsenic-e.g., arsenic-containing pesticides in agriculture-also contribute to global exposure. In the United States, As tops the hazardous substance priority list of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registries, and 13 million Americans are exposed to levels exceeding the US Water Quality Standards.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global health threat, fueled by spontaneous DNA mutations and horizontal gene transfer (HGT) via mobile genetic elements such as plasmids and phages. The human gut microbiota—comprising hundreds of co-existing bacterial populations—may serve as a hotspot for the emergence and spread of resistance due to its density and complexity.