Prompt: Imagine yourself as the head of a funding agency (like the National Institute of Health) in which your job is to look at proposals for research projects and decide what projects to award funding to. Based on your readings this term, discuss a research project (or projects) that you would be most excited about funding as they relate to learning more about microbial influences on human health. As part of your response, consider what are we likely to learn from the project and how that might be important in future healthcare decisions.
Something that I would be most excited about funding and how it relates to microbial influences of health would be how wide of an array I could research. There are many machines, different forms of tests, and a wealth of knowledge to be tapped into. The best tests are those that can isolate variables and still have a large population to work with. A project I would want to look into would be dysbiosis and its effect upon cancer treatments. I think with the right amount of funding, it could be used to mitigate or reduce negative side effects of treatments, which would be crucial in helping those who are experiencing it.
