As lack of RCT studies is a main issue for the majority of microbial relationships to health outcomes, I would focus on providing funding for one of those. Specifically, I would allocate the funding to studies involving depression and the microbiome. Mounting evidence indicates that microbes factor into the mental health equation. An appealing thing about focusing research here is the lack of alternatives to alleviate depression symptoms. It is such a frustrating disorder to approach due to its complexity so exploring new, science-based methods for alleviating the symptoms could have huge benefits. I believe this would be a worthwhile area to study as the prevalence of depression continues to rise. Propelling treatment forward with high quality studies on the relationship is the first step in progress in fighting depression. In the beginning, isolating which specific classes or species of microbes have an effect on mental health seems to be the first step.
