National Conference of Microbiome Centers
Abstract
Project Abstract ~ National Meeting of Microbiome CentersMicrobiomes are communities of microorganisms ~ bacteria, archaea, viruses, fungi and other microeukaryotes ~ that inhabit all of Earth~s environments from the human body to oceans and soils. These communities, whether associated with a host or free-living in the environment, are incredibly biologically diverse. It is increasingly clear that this diversity is central to both human and environmental health. In the human body, microbiome composition and activity has been linked to a growing number of conditions including obesity, cancer, neurological disorders, auto-immune diseases, and vaccine efficacy. Human microbiome research is directly relevant for the health of warfighters. This medical research is particularly relevant for Force Health Protection and Prevention as outlined in the Marine Corps Science & Technology Plan for the protection, sustenance, and optimization of a service member~s fitness and health. Microbiome research has flourished in recent years so that close to three dozen centers now exist in the United States. Operating in relative seclusion from each other, these various centers face similar challenges. Coordination and cooperation among these national microbiome centers may facilitate advancement of microbiome research. We therefore propose a meeting of the Directors and Associate Directors ofMicrobiome Centers to share best practices and discuss long-term coordination to better serve the larger community of microbiome researchers.The day and a half meeting will take place on June 25-26 in 2019 at the Beckman Center of the National Academies of Science and Engineering on the University of California, Irvine campus. The meeting will include ~50 people, with Directors and Associate Directors of microbiome centers as the largest faction in attendance. In addition to faculty, we will invite program officers from federal agencies and private foundations, as well as representatives from other national science network efforts.The goal of the meeting is to improve the effectiveness of academic microbiome centers to advance microbiome research. We will measure the success by the attendance of the majority of national centers and post-conference survey feedback. If discussions at the meeting conclude that further coordination of a national network of microbiome centers is desired, we will identify next steps. These might include initial priorities for such anetwork, the development of an electronic network or website, topics for future meetings, and a leadership team. The results of the conference will be shared by submitting a meeting report to a scientific journal.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- May 23, 2019
- Source ID
- N000141912313
Entities
People
- Jennifer B.H. Martiny
Organizations
- Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy