Our lab studies the interplay between microbes and medicine. Microbes, including bacteria and viruses, live in enormous numbers in and on the human body. While these groups of microbes have been implicated in both health and disease, little is known about how an individual's response to medicine may be affected by his or her unique microbial communities. For instance, the drug warfarin, used to prevent the formation of blood clots, is influenced by vitamins made by gut microbes. Although warfarin is prescribed over 30 million times each year, it is implicated in more serious adverse effects than almost any other drug. The gap in understanding the unpredictable effects of that drug and others could be bridged by accounting for the role of microbial variation. With the Pew award, I will measure the connections between microbial community composition and drug response. We will test the function of warfarin by implanting human microbes in otherwise germ-free mice. This work will shed light on the importance of gut microbial community composition in guiding the prescription, dosage, and administration of warfarin and other drugs.
Keywords: Microbiome, Host-microbe interactions, Drug metabolism
Keywords: Microbiome, Host-microbe interactions, Drug metabolism
