To develop preventive therapies, we must understand how pathogen communities work.

At Ohio State, our collective understanding of infectious diseases has evolved: Rather than thinking that a single pathogen causes disease, we now understand that groups of microorganisms in biofilms, microbiomes and viromes that contain combinations of beneficial and pathogenic microorganisms contribute to either health or disease.

We are detecting how and why these communities take shape. We want to understand the factors that shape how these microbial communities are formed — and how specific compositions make pathogens more or less virulent.

We study how microbial communities’ composition affects immune system defense or susceptibility — and how microorganisms adapt, persist and resist treatment.

To learn more about microbiome research at Ohio State, visit the Center of Microbiome Science.

Interested in biofilms? Join our monthly Biofilms Interest Group meetings to hear about the biofilm research going on in our community. See 2023-24 meeting schedule here >>

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