How the Human Microbiome Adapts to Its Host

  • Speaker
  • Eric Alm, Ph.D.Director, Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics
    Professor, Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date & Time


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The microbes that live on and inside us play a surprisingly significant role in our health and the progression of diseases. But the human microbiome is not static. Instead, it is a dynamic ecosystem that responds to the genetics and behavior of its host.

In this talk, Eric Alm will discuss experiments investigating how the microbiome adapts to its host and the timescales on which this adaptation occurs.

About the Speaker

Alm is a professor of biological engineering at MIT, an institute member of the Broad Institute and co-director of the MIT Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics. Work in his laboratory employs genomics to improve healthcare and public health. Much of his recent work relates to the human microbiome. Both commercial and non-profit organizations have spun out of his research group in the fields of therapeutics, wastewater epidemiology and global health.

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