Jarrod Smith, MCB '18

A major goal of our research is to develop microbe-derived therapeutics that improve the lives of individuals with digestive diseases. We explore the role gut ecology, primarily host mucus, plays in shaping the host-health-promoting functions of resident microbes, focusing on how beneficial microbes regulate interactions with each other and their host. We use molecular microbiology approaches like co-aggregation and biofilm assays to identify conditions that promote interactions between beneficial gut microbes and leverage larval zebrafish models of gut inflammation to isolate microbial products with anti-inflammatory activities.