Dr. Robert J. Glaser Distinguished University Professor
Director, The Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences & Systems Biology Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

By investigating shifts in the microbiome, Prof. Coker’s team hopes to understand how microbiota modulation might present as an important therapeutic target for better long-term health outcomes particularly in young children. Building on my work on the microbiome, HIV and clinical expertise, I am currently focused on conducting large-scale human microbiome research in the context of longitudinal molecular epidemiology studies in young children. In addition, I am motivated by questions related to disease causality and the rigorous epidemiologic methods used to address them. Most recently, we have been involved in research related to SARS-CoV-2 epidemiology.

In Dr. Soumaya’s research focus on “Microbiome, drug resistance, and cancer,” she is deeply intrigued by the implementation of cutting-edge precision medicine techniques for investigating the complexity of biological systems. Specifically, she has successfully incorporated innovative methods to explore the gut microbiome and metabolome. These methods involve high-throughput sequencing and metabolomics technologies, which she has applied in the fields of organ transplantation and oncology.
By leveraging these methods, Dr. Soumaya’s research aims to achieve several significant outcomes:
1. Early disease detection
2. Prognostic and predictive criteria
3. Identification of therapeutic targets

Charissa Naidoo leads research on the microbiome’s role in tuberculosis – a leading infectious cause of death globally. She is also the co-director for the African Microbiome Institute at Stellenbosch University.

The Passmore lab’s focus is on studying the genital tract adaptive and innate immune responses associated with protection from, or susceptibility to, sexually transmitted diseases including HPV and HIV. Prof. Passmore is specifically interested in studying biomarkers for susceptibility and protection to HIV infection, including secreted inflammatory molecules, genital immune activation and HIV-specific immune responses present in the female genital tract.

Dr Happel completed her PhD in Medical Virology at the University of Cape Town, during which she evaluated live biotherapeutics to treat bacterial vaginosis in South African women at high risk of HIV acquisition. Her postdoctoral research focussed on the interplay between HIV, maternal and infant microbiota and infant health outcomes, and current work involves understanding interactions between bacterial and viral microbiota in the female genital tract and subsequent effects on risk of preterm birth in women with HIV, for which she received an EDCTP Career Development Fellowship in poverty-related diseases and child and adolescent health. Ultimately, she aims to use her research to design microbiome-based diagnostics and biotherapeutics for women’s and infant’s health.